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Fukushima No. 3 reactor vents smoke, but container damage unlikelyBy Miya Tanaka and Maya Kaneko
TOKYO, March 17, Kyodo
Japan's nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power station showed no signs of abating Wednesday, five days after a mega earthquake crippled it, with the focus shifting to how to address the possible overheating of pools that store spent fuel rods at the already troubled No. 3 and No. 4 reactors.
What appeared to be smoke coming from the No. 3 reactor in the morning led the top government spokesman to point to the possibility of damage to the reactor's steel containment vessel, but it became more likely later in the day that the smoke was radioactive steam coming from the No. 3 reactor's spent fuel pool.
читать дальшеCooling down the spent fuel pools is a difficult task amid the high radiation level in the area, while fears of radiation among the public appeared to escalate as some companies refused to deliver relief materials to Fukushima Prefecture even outside of the government-designated warning zone.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said in the morning that the smoke from the nuclear plant was identified from about 8:30 a.m. and it was possible that ''steam has been released from the (No. 3) reactor's containment vessel.'' But the government announced later that the possibility of serious damage to the containment vessel is ''low.''
The government's nuclear safety agency said separately the radiation level briefly reached 10 millisievert per hour at the plant's entrance at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday.
But the level was lower than the 400 millisievert per hour -- equivalent to 400 times the level to which people can be safely exposed in one year -- recorded Tuesday, the maximum level so far reported at the plant.
Edano said in the morning regarding the smoke that the government has no plans at the moment to expand the evacuation zone which currently covers areas within a 20 kilometer radius of the plant.
He told another press conference that the radiation level near the entrance of the plant stood at around 1,500 microsievert per hour shortly after 4 p.m. and had ''stabilized'' at around that level.
The government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. are trying to add water to the spent fuel-storage pool at the No. 3 reactor, but the Defense Ministry said in the afternoon that it had given up on sending Ground Self-Defense Force choppers to the nuclear plant area on Wednesday, apparently due to the high radiation level.
To address the crisis at the No. 4 reactor, police sources said that the National Police Agency is considering using a special water cannon truck used by the Metropolitan Police Department to add water to the reactor's spent-fuel rod pool, which may be boiling.
The operation could commence soon, they said.
The government has already ordered the firm to add water to the pool ''as soon as possible to avert a major nuclear disaster.''
Adding to concern, a fire broke out earlier Wednesday at the No. 4 reactor, which was already posing the risk of leaks of high-level radioactive materials, but flames were no longer visible about 30 minutes later, according to Tokyo Electric. Fire was first seen around the same location Tuesday.
Of the six reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the No. 2 reactor's containment vessel, key to enclosing harmful radioactive substances, has suffered damage. More specifically, the pressure-suppression chamber connected to the vessel was damaged following an apparent hydrogen explosion early Tuesday.
Unless the spent fuel rods are cooled down, they could suffer damage and emit radioactive substances.
An estimated 70 percent of the nuclear fuel rods have been damaged at the plant's No. 1 reactor and 33 percent at the No. 2 reactor, Tokyo Electric said Wednesday.
The cores of the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors are believed to have partially melted with their cooling functions lost in the wake of Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami.
The impact of the recent development involving the release of radioactive substances continued to widen, with the Fukushima prefecutural government announcing that it had detected a small amount of radioactive substances -- iodine and cesium -- from tap water extracted at 8 a.m. in the city of Fukushima. The substances were not detected in water taken in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the science and technology ministry said the radiation level in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday was around 6,600 times higher than normal. The town lies within the area where residents have been urged to stay indoors.
Edano said the level ''would not have immediate effects on the human body'' and noted that there seems to be some ''overreaction'' to radiation fears.
Even outside the zone where the government has recommended that people remain indoors, there are cases where the distribution of essential goods has stopped, Edano said.
==Kyodo