IAEA says control room, primary containment vessel remain intact and operational; dozens exposed to radiation; US warships move offshore.
VIENNA - A hydrogen blast at Japan's earthquake-stricken nuclear plant did not damage its primary containment vessel, the UN nuclear agency said on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was told by Japanese nuclear authorities the control room of the unit 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant remained operational, following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.
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"The reactor building exploded but the primary containment vessel was not damaged. The control room of unit 3 remains operational," the IAEA said in a statement.
"All personnel at the site are accounted for. Six people have been injured," it said in a statement on its website.
The core container of the No. 3 reactor was intact after the explosion, the government said, but it warned those still in the 20-kilometer (13-mile) evacuation zone to stay indoors.
A Japanese official said before the blast 22 people had been confirmed to have suffered radiation contamination and up to 190 may have been exposed. Workers in protective clothing used hand-held scanners to check people arriving at evacuation centers.
US warships and planes helping with relief efforts moved away from the coast temporarily because of low-level radiation. The US Seventh Fleet described the move as precautionary.
The government had warned of a possible explosion at the No. 3 reactor because of the buildup of hydrogen in the building housing the reactor. TV images showed smoke rising from the Fukushima facility, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
An explosion blew the roof off the No. 1 reactor building on Saturday.
"I was having lunch at a restaurant when I saw the news of the explosion at unit 3," said Mikiko Amano, 55, who was at her home a few km from the plant. "It only raised my distrust in TEPCO... The company has been saying such a thing would not happen."
A badly wounded nation has seen whole villages and towns wiped off the map by a wall of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the situation at the 40-year-old Fukushima nuclear plant remained worrisome and that the authorities were doing their utmost to stop damage from spreading.
"We have rescued over 15,000 people and we are working to support them and others. We will do our utmost in rescue efforts again today," he said.
Officials confirmed on Sunday that three nuclear reactors north of Tokyo were at risk of overheating, raising fears of an uncontrolled radiation leak.
Engineers worked desperately to cool the fuel rods. If they fail, the containers that house the core could melt, or even explode, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.
الرئيسية 
موضوع: Blast strikes Japanese nuclear plant; core safe 
الإثنين مارس 14, 2011 2:11 am
