Meltdown may have occurred in two nuke reactors: Japanese Government

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Meltdown may have occurred in two nuke reactors: Japanese Government

Submitted by Raman Iyer on Sun, 03/13/2011 - 06:23

Tokyo, March 13

Japanese Government officials have said meltdown may have occurred in two

reactors at the Fukushima power station.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano says it is possible that the

radioactive cores of the two damaged Fukushima reactors have already started to

melt.

He said: " We believe that there is a possibility that meltdown has occurred but

it is inside the reactor so we can''t see. "

" However, we are acting, assuming that a meltdown has occurred and with reactor

number 3, we are also assuming the possibility of a meltdown as we carry out

measures. "

Officials from Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the plant's operator, say that

pressure is rising inside reactor No. 3, after its emergency cooling system

failed to operate.

A similar problem had led to a blast at the plant''s reactor No. 1 on Saturday.

The officials say that after the blast, the plant lost the emergency cooling

system at a second reactor and it started releasing air from the reactor

container vessel to lower pressure inside it and avoid any serious damage.

TEPCO said that radiation levels around the nuclear plant have risen above the

safety limit but it does not mean an " immediate threat " to human health.

About 170000 people have been evacuated from the area around the plant, to

prevent exposure to harmful radiation.

Officials said at least 19 people who had been sent to a nearby hospital have

been found exposed to radioactivity.

They also confirmed that four people working in the plant had been injured in

Saturday''s explosion, but their injuries were not life threatening.

TEPCO has been pumping seawater into the reactor in an effort to cool the core.

Friday's earthquake triggered the automatic shutdown of Fukushima's reactors.

But the quake caused a power cut, which affected the water pumps that cool the

reactor's core. (ANI)