Japanese authorities trying to stave off meltdowns at an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant reported more grim news Tuesday as radiation levels soared following another explosion at an overheating reactor.
The risk of further releases of radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains "very high," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday. In addition to an explosion at the No. 2 reactor, the building housing the No. 4 unit -- which had been shut down before Friday's earthquake -- was burning Tuesday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced.
The plant's owners, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, evacuated all but about 50 of their workers from the plant following Tuesday's explosion at the No. 2 reactor. Radiation levels at the plant have increased to "levels that can impact human health," Edano said -- between 100 and 400 millisieverts, or as much as 160 times higher than the average dose of radiation a typical person receives from natural sources in a year.
Evacuations have already been ordered for anyone living within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the plant, and Edano said anyone between 20 and 30 kilometers (between 12.5-18.6 miles) should remain indoors. At least 500 residents were believed to have remained within the 20-kilometer radius Monday evening, Edano said.
Edano spoke more than four hours after an explosion at the No. 2 reactor, the third blast in four days. The cooling system at that unit was damaged by a hydrogen explosion at the No. 3 unit on Monday, and workers had been attempting to keep temperatures at unit 2 in check by pumping seawater into the reactor ever since.
The "explosive impact" took place shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday (5 p.m. Monday ET), TEPCO said. Pressure readings indicated some damage to the No. 2 reactor's suppression pool, a donut-shaped reservoir at the base of the reactor containment vessel.
"We are continuing the water injection into the pressure vessels, but the operators who are not directly engaged in this operation are being evacuated to safer locations," a TEPCO executive told reporters at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Monday's hydrogen explosion at reactor No. 3 injured 11 people, Japanese authorities said. A similar hydrogen explosion on Saturday blew the roof off the containment structure around the No. 1 reactor and hurt four people.
Edano said earlier that he could not rule out the possibility of a meltdown at all three troubled reactors at the plant.
The risk of further releases of radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains "very high," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday. In addition to an explosion at the No. 2 reactor, the building housing the No. 4 unit -- which had been shut down before Friday's earthquake -- was burning Tuesday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced.
Evacuations have already been ordered for anyone living within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the plant, and Edano said anyone between 20 and 30 kilometers (between 12.5-18.6 miles) should remain indoors. At least 500 residents were believed to have remained within the 20-kilometer radius Monday evening, Edano said.
Edano spoke more than four hours after an explosion at the No. 2 reactor, the third blast in four days. The cooling system at that unit was damaged by a hydrogen explosion at the No. 3 unit on Monday, and workers had been attempting to keep temperatures at unit 2 in check by pumping seawater into the reactor ever since.
The "explosive impact" took place shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday (5 p.m. Monday ET), TEPCO said. Pressure readings indicated some damage to the No. 2 reactor's suppression pool, a donut-shaped reservoir at the base of the reactor containment vessel.
"We are continuing the water injection into the pressure vessels, but the operators who are not directly engaged in this operation are being evacuated to safer locations," a TEPCO executive told reporters at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Monday's hydrogen explosion at reactor No. 3 injured 11 people, Japanese authorities said. A similar hydrogen explosion on Saturday blew the roof off the containment structure around the No. 1 reactor and hurt four people.
Edano said earlier that he could not rule out the possibility of a meltdown at all three troubled reactors at the plant.
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