AUToday tweet: #fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. No.3 reactor now of concern. The power company has raised the warning leave to 4 on a scale of 0-7. #eqjp
United for Peace of Pierce County: Core Melting Presumed at Multiple Reactors as Six Cores Lost at Fukushima:
Efforts to cool nuclear fuel rods appeared to be failing at three reactors at two nuclear power plants in Japan's Fukushima prefecture, 150 miles north of Tokyo, in the aftermath of the devastating Mar. 11 earthquake (upgraded to 9.0 on the Richter scale, and now said to be the biggest within the boundaries of the North American and Pacific tectonic plates in 1,200 years) and tsunami, the London Guardian suggested.[1] -- "Kyodo News quoted Tepco as saying that the up to three meters of MOX fuel rods were exposed above water at the Fukushima plant," Justin McCurry said. -- "Shaun Burnie, an independent nuclear energy consultant and forner head of nuclear campaigns at Greenpeace, said the presence of a percentage of fuel core loaded with plutonium MOX fuel in the No. 3 reactor posed a grave threat to the surrounding area. 'Plutonium MOX fuel increases the risk of nuclear accident due the neutronic effects of plutonium on the reactor,' Burnie told the Guardian. 'In the event of an accident -- in particular loss of coolant -- the reactor core is more difficult to control due to both neutronics and higher risk of fuel cladding failure.'" -- China's Xinhua news agency reported that "the TEPOC reported that the No. 3 reactor at the plant lost its ability to cool the reactor core, becoming the sixth reactor that lost the function after No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the No. 1 plant and No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 at the No. 2 plant had suffered the same trouble." -- Bloomberg Businessweek downplayed the fears about the nuclear emergency.[3] -- But the New York Times called the "widening nuclear crisis" the "worst involving a nuclear plant since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago."
CNN: Quake moved Japan's coast 8 feet closer to the U.S.
NASA photo of Sendai flooded areas:
Japan quake upgraded to 9.0. Now tied for 4th most powerful quake in recorded history.
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