* Staff writers, AFP * From: Herald Sun * March 15, 2011...

* Staff writers, AFP
* From: Herald Sun
* March 15, 2011 12:00AM


UPDATE 10.21am: JAPAN'S nuclear safety agency says an explosion has been heard at the quake-hit Fukushima No.1nuclear plant.

An agency spokesman speaking on national television said the explosion was heard at 6.10am (8.10am AEDT).

No other details were immediately announced.

Serious radiation leaks are possible from the plant after it was discovered part of the container of a troubled nuclear reactor appeared to be damaged, the Japanese government says.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that "damage appears on the suppression pool" -- the bottom part of the container, which contains water used to cool down the reactor and control air pressure inside.

The fuel rods in the number two reactor at the quake-damaged nuclear power plant are again "fully exposed", officials said, boosting fears of an eventual partial meltdown.

Air pressure inside the reactor at the Fukushima No.1 plant, located 250 km north of Tokyo, rose suddenly when the air flow gauge was accidentally turned off, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said.

That blocked the flow of cooling water into the reactor, leading to full exposure of the rods at around 11pm last night (1.00am AEDT), TEPCO said.

The 4m fuel rods were exposed to the air to a length of 3.7 metres. Water was later pumped back into the reactor, so the danger was unlikely to get worse in the short term, the company said.

"We are not optimistic but I think we can inject water once we can reopen the valve and lower air pressure," a TEPCO official told reporters.

Japan has been grappling with a nuclear emergency since a massive earthquake and tsunami battered its northeast coast on Friday.

The nuclear plants shut down automatically, as they are designed to do. But the loss of power in the area and tsunami damage to back-up generators apparently crippled reactor cooling systems.

Last night, Japan's chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said a meltdown was "highly likely" at three of the plant's nuclear reactors.

The Japanese Government said 11 people were injured when an explosion hit Fukushima's No. 3 reactor yesterday.

Authorities said it was probably a hydrogen explosion. They said the reactor was probably undamaged and there was a low possibility of a major radiation leak at the plant.

The building surrounding the plant's No. 1 reactor blew apart on Saturday but the seal around the reactor itself remained intact.

Japan in Crisis

The nuclear crisis comes as millions of people faced their fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the devastated northeastern coast.

About 1000 bodies were found yesterday on the shoreline of Miyagi's Ojika Peninsula, the region hit hardest by the 8.9 quake.

Another 1000 corpses were washed ashore at the port town of Minami Sanriku, where up to 10,000 people are missing.

Authorities have officially confirmed 1647 deaths and 1720 people missing. The death toll is expected to rise dramatically.

Although Japan's soldiers have found death on a large scale, hope was pulled from the rubble yesterday.

A baby girl was found in Ishinomaki, a coastal town northeast of Sendai smashed by the tsunami.

Members of the Japanese Self Defence Force marvelled at the four-month-old's survival, wrapping her in a pink jacket and transporting her to safety.

A new tsunami scare triggered more panic on the devastated northeast coast yesterday after a large wave was spotted rolling in to shore, but authorities said they had detected no sign of a tsunami or a quake that would have caused it.

About 600,000 people have been evacuated from the disaster zone, including 210,000 living near the two Fukushima nuclear plants.

Japan already committed 100,000 troops - about 40 percent of its armed forces - to spearhead the mammoth rescue and recovery effort, with hundreds of ships, aircraft and vehicles headed to the Pacific coastal area.

Emergency workers have so far rescued 15,000 survivors.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is still trying to contact about 150 Australians believed to be living on or visiting the coast strip.

The closure of nuclear power plants has led to massive power failures. Rolling blackouts were scheduled to begin across the country last night.

Russian and Philippine authorities reported normal radiation levels after yesterday's blast at Fukushima.

But the US Seventh Fleet moved its ships and aircraft away from the nuclear power plant after discovering low-level radioactive contamination. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 160km offshore when its instruments detected the radiation.

Singapore and Taiwan said they were testing food imported from Japan for radiation.

The Bank of Japan pumped $180 billion into the banking system as the Tokyo stock market plunged more than 6 per cent.

Along the northeast coast, there was no running water, no power and a five-hour wait for petrol. People were suppressing hunger with instant noodles or rice balls while dealing with the loss of loved ones and homes.

"People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming," said a government official in the devastated Iwate prefecture.


- with NewsCore, AFP