Picture by Reuters

There is a risk of nuclear leak as there is a report of damage occuring in the coolant section of a nuclear reactor. Japan has declared nuclear emergency and has shut down its nuclear and oil refineries to prevent any further damage. Thought there is no report of leakage of nuclear radiation till now. Latest reports says Japan has shutdown five nuclear reactors at two power plants after the units lost cooling ability due to the consequences of the earthquake. Meanwhile reports are coming that US is providing nuclear reactor coolant to Japan.

Latest Media reports estimate that at least 1,300 people may have been killed by the earthquake and tsunami. A report from Jiji news agency quoted nuclear authorities that there is a high possibility that nuclear fuel rods at Tokyo Electric Power's (Tepco's) Daiichi No.1 reactor may be melting or have melted. Authorities have been trying hard to reduce pressure at two nuclear power plants in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Due to the damage in coolant system the reactor is heating up. If this problem is not solved, such as by venting steam which releases small amounts of radiation, there is a chance it would result in a rupture of the reactor pressure vessel. Still there are less chances of leakage as always around the reactor there is a solid casing and external container, but if earthquake has weaken the structure then the risk is high

Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima I, Fukushima II and Tōkai nuclear power stations were automatically shut down following the earthquake. Higashidōri, also on the northeast coast, was already shut down for a periodic inspection. The Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant, also on the coast, was being powered by emergency diesel generators. Separately, a fire broke out at the Onagawa plant. The blaze was in a building housing the turbine, which is sited separately from the plant's reactor.

Though any repetition of Chernobyl is ruled out by the Japanese authorities, Naoto Seimura, a professor at the University of Tokyo said, "No Chernobyl is possible at a light water reactor in Japan. Loss of coolant means a temperature rise, but it also will stop the reaction." If the nuclear reaction is stop then there is no cause of worry, even if in worst case scenario if the leak happens, it wont affect area more than the 3 kilometer of radius

Update: An explosion has blown the roof off an Fukushima Nuclear Plant, an unstable nuclear reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday, Japanese media said, it has raised fears of a disastrous meltdown at a nuclear plant damaged in the massive earthquake that hit Japan. NHK television and Jiji said the outer structure of the building that houses the reactor appeared to have blown off, which could suggest the containment building had already been breached. This was the casing/container we were talking about which could have saved any leakage of radiation, but now it has been blown.

Shutting down of nuclear power plants and oil refineries and many other industries have caused a huge loss in one single day.

Also Read: 

• Nuclear Radiation leaking in Japan

• Japan Could Have Avoided Nuclear Disaster

• Work at Fukushima Nuclear Plant Suspended

• Image of Japanese Tsunami Gets Shocking; asked IAEA for help

• Third Explosion at quake hit Nuclear Plant in Japan

• Life in Japan stuck, Quake kills 10,000; Economy falling down

• Second Blast at Quake Hit Japanese Nuclear Plant

• Radiation level exceeds legal limit at earthquake hit Japan

• Impact on Economy after Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami
• 8.9 Earthquake in Japan, Tsunami Warning to Russia, Taiwan and South East Asia
• Japan Earthquake Triggered Russian Volcanoes
• Earthquake Shifts Japan Islands and Earth Axis

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