Fire at refinery in Chiba Prefecture (state) after earthquake (AP Photo)
Japan declares Nuclear Emergency as cooling system fails at Fukushima. Some news agencies were of the view that there was a power failure at Fukushima, which shut down the reactor coolant systems and that the back-up generators failed as well.
TOKYO, JAPAN: The cooling system failed at three reactors of the quake-hit Fukushima number 2 nuclear power plant Saturday, said the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co as reported by Kyodo News agency. The company, which has already scrambled to deal with radiation leaks at its Fukushima number 1 plant, notified the industry ministry that the failsafe system at the number 2 plant stopped functioning as the temperature of coolant water has topped 100 C.
More than 1,000 people were feared dead after Friday’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northeastern Japan, generating a 10-metre-high tsunami that swept away people, cars, boats, crops and buildings. It was the strongest tremor ever recorded in quake-prone Japan. The quake generated tsunami alerts across the Pacific, as far away as Chile and nearly 50 countries have been put on high alert.
Concerns had been raised earlier Friday after the electrical system that supplies the cooling system failed at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. The reactor’s radioactive core needs continued cooling to prevent a meltdown.
Mobile power supplies were delivered to the plant to restore the system, which had been operating on batteries, the industry news outlet World Nuclear News said, citing an official statement.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US Air Force in Japan had transported coolant to the plant.
© IANS News