 Japan's authorities ordered Tuesday morning immediate evacuation of all engineers and workers from the seriously troubled Fukushima nuclear complex, an ominous hint that the three nuclear reactors there face the prospect of meltdown. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan made a nationally televised statement at 11 am local time to discuss the crisis. Radiation is spewing from the damaged reactors in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The prime minister has warned residents to stay inside or risk getting radiation sickness. Kan warned that there are dangers of more leaks and told people living within 30 kilometers of the Fukushima nuclear complex stay indoors. To make things worse, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that a fourth reactor there was on fire and that more radiation was released. Earlier, a new explosion at the Nuclear Power Station's No 2 reactor before 6 am Tuesday damaged the crucial containment structure made of special steel, and some fuel rods stored there were exposed to the air, meaning large emissions of radioactive materials could incur at any time. If all workers are now ordered to abandon the complex and no coolants are available to cool the reactor cores, the nuclear fuel rods in all three reactors are likely to melt down, dispersing larger flumes of highly radioactive materials. It remains to be seen whether nuclear scientists and engineers could find an effective measure to prevent another nuclear disaster, comparative to the Chernobyl Accident 25 years ago, from happening now. By People's Daily Online |
|
|
