JAPAN’S GOVERNMENT was making every effort to convince its people last night that it has managed to avert catastrophe at the stricken Fukushima nuclear complex, even as firefighters battled a fresh blaze at No 4 reactor.
There were worries last night that spent fuel rods in a cooling pool at the stricken reactor could be exposed by the fire and spew more radiation into the atmosphere. Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said two workers were missing after blasts at the facility a day earlier blew a hole in the building housing No 4.
Earlier, the UN nuclear watchdog chief said there might be limited core damage at the No 2 unit of the earthquake-stricken Fukushima power plant. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there was a “possibility of core damage” at unit 2. “The damage is estimated to be less than 5 per cent.”
Engineers working to prevent meltdown of reactors at the plant say radiation levels have fallen. But they warned that contamination within the danger zone around the plant, about 250km northeast of the capital, was dangerous to human health and told people inside the zone to evacuate or remain indoors.
Elevated radioactivity levels were detected in Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures, but senior government spokesman Yukio Edano said contamination was negligible.
The crisis follows a third explosion at the plant yesterday, which is believed to have caused a crack in the chamber of reactor 2. Steam and radioactive substances reportedly poured through the breach, sending contamination levels soaring.
Mr Edano later said that the levels quickly fell again, but refused to rule out further leaks.
“Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight,” he added. “These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that.”
Engineers are still pumping seawater into reactors 1, 2 and 3 in an attempt to cool them and prevent meltdown, and are “closely watching” reactors 5 and 6, which were “overheating slightly”.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned that the risk of further contamination from the Fukushima complex was still high.
“The possibility of further radioactive leakage is heightening,” Mr Kan said in an address to the nation. “We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask you to act calmly.”
Thousands of foreigners and Japanese citizens are fleeing the capital for the west and south of the country or abroad.
Several airlines, including Air China and Lufthansa, have stopped flying into Tokyo’s airports.
But experts tried to allay fears of a catastrophe. “At this particular moment in time we don’t believe it is necessary to evacuate Tokyo, even though the radioactivity is certainly out there,” said Masako Sawai of the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Centre. “However, there is a possibility that our view may change depending on how the reactor activity progresses.”
The crisis has wiped billions from Japan’s stock market, sending the Nikkei share index diving by 10.55 per cent yesterday. The central bank has pumped about $280 billion (€200 billion) into the financial system since the weekend.
Around the country a vast rescue and relief operation continues as more than 400,000 people remain stranded in refugee centres.
Already shattered nerves were further frayed last night by a magnitude 6.4 quake, which struck Shizuoka, southwest of Tokyo. Aftershocks from last Friday’s devastating magnitude 9.0 quake and subsequent tsunami have continued to rock much of the northeast. Experts fear that another strong tremor could aggravate the the Fukushima plant crisis.
Officials have updated the death toll to 3,400 but thousands are missing. Half the 11,000 population of Onagawa Town in hard-hit Miyagi Prefecture may have died in the tsunami. Another 8,000 are missing in the same prefecture.