As if Friday’s earthquake and giant tsunami that followed were not enough to cause untold devastation to Japan, authorities there are now dealing with a potential nuclear meltdown at the critically damaged nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
A nuclear emergency has been declared at the nuclear power station owned by Toyko Electric Power due to a failure with the reactor’s cooling system. The Japanese government has ordered evacuation of thousands of residents living within six miles of the plant.
During an earthquake, the plant is designed to automatically go into shutdown mode, but radioactive material continues to decay, thereby producing heat. The reactor’s cooling systems rely on electric pumps to circulate water around the nuclear core, preventing overheating and pressure buildup. When a loss of electricity occurs and diesel powered backups are damaged, as occurred in Japan, battery power backups are supposed to take over. In this case, workers have been unable to restore the systems.
According to latest reports, pressure inside the reactor has risen to abnormal levels and radiation levels inside of the facility have surged to more than 1,000 times that which is normal.
The situation in Japan continues to worsen, as officials struggle to rescue those trapped in the rubble.
