A HUGE explosion blew off the roof and walls of Japan’s quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and people nearby were warned to stay indoors amid reports of a radiation leak and possible meltdown.
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The explosion highlighted the scale of the disaster facing Japan following Friday’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake and 33-feet (10-meter) tsunami that devastated the country’s northeastern coast.
Dramatic TV footage showed the blast ripping through the aging coastal facility, sending plumes of smoke billowing high into the air.
“We are now trying to analyze what is behind the explosion,” said government spokesman Yukio Edano, warning that people nearby should quickly evacuate. “We ask everyone to take action to secure safety,” he said.
Edano confirmed that there had been a radiation leak at the plant, and broadcaster NHK said the evacuation radius around the plant was doubled to 12 miles (20 kilometers).
UPDATE 11.45pm: A NUCLEAR power plant exploded, a day after the huge Japanese earthquake damaged the facility’s cooling system.
Nuclear authorities had earlier warned that the Fukushima No.1 plant, about 250km northeast of Tokyo, an urban area of 30 million people, “may be experiencing a nuclear meltdown“.
The plant’s cooling system was damaged in the quake that hit on Friday, leaving the government scrambling to fix the problem and evacuate more than 45,000 residents within a 10km radius.
The operator of a stricken nuclear plant, TEPCO, believed a reactor container was not damaged despite a large explosion at the plant, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said.
Japan’s government says the metal container sheltering a nuclear reactor was not affected by an explosion that destroyed the building it’s in.
Pressure and heat have been building at the nuclear reactor since an earthquake and tsunami on Friday caused its cooling system to fail.
An explosion on Saturday blew out the walls of the building housing the reactor. The government has ordered people within a 20km radius of the plant in Fukushima to evacuate the area.
Mr Edano added that radiation levels near the Fukushima plant had fallen after the blast, amid fears of a possible nuclear meltdown following a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Friday.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that a blast had been heard at about 5.30pm (Melbourne time) and showed delayed footage of the explosion and smoke billowing from the site, also reporting that the reactor building had been destroyed.
TV channels warned nearby residents to stay indoors, turn off airconditioners and not to drink tap water. People going outside were also told to avoid exposing their skin and to cover their faces with masks and wet towels.
Meanwhile thousands are feared dead as Japan continues to reel from Friday’s horror earthquake and tsunami.
There are concerns for the safety of at least 160 Australians in the worst-hit areas of Japan.
The powerful quake that unleashed a devastating tsunami appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 2.4m and shifted the Earth on its axis, earthquake experts say.
Emergency crews began searching for survivors of the 8.9 magnitude “megaquake” and subsequent tsunami that washed away entire villages, cars and bridges, set oil refineries on fire and had several nuclear power plants on alert on the Pacific coast.
Rescuers continued to dig through rubble and pluck survivors of the quake – 8000 times stronger than the one that crippled Christchurch last month – from the roofs of submerged houses.
There were fears for the safety of Australians living near the epicentre of the quake at Sendai, 405km north of Tokyo, a popular area for Aussies working as English-language teachers and translators.
The regions of Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima, Ibraki and Aomori were worst affected. Police in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, said 300 bodies had been found on the shore.
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