Fukushima Nuclear Plant Explodes After Earthquake – Caught on Video
An explosion sent white smoke rising above a nuclear plant where a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems in northeastern Japan, the country’s chief Cabinet secretary said Saturday. Four workers were injured after the blast at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters. Japan’s government spokesman says the metal container sheltering a nuclear reactor was not affected by an explosion that destroyed the building it’s in. Yukio Edano says the radiation around the plant did not rise after the blast but instead is decreasing. He added that pressure in the reactor was also decreasing. The roof of a reactor at the plant collapsed following the explosion around 3:30 p.m., Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported, citing Tokyo Electric Power Company. The video below shows the blast happen and our hearts go out to Japan in this critical time. A Chernobyl style event doesn’t seem likely, but any explosion at a nuclear plant makes you a tad bit nervous.
Earlier Saturday, Japan’s nuclear agency said workers were continuing efforts to cool fuel rods at the plant after a small amount of radioactive material escaped into the air. The agency said there was a strong possibility that the radioactive cesium monitors detected was from the melting of a fuel rod at the plant, adding that engineers were continuing to cool the fuel rods by pumping water around them. Cesium is a byproduct of the nuclear fission process that occurs in nuclear plants.
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