Explosion in Japanese Reactor causes fear of meltdown
After the largest earthquake in Japan's history, if that weren't enough along with the tsunami, Japan's Fukushima nuclear facility has experienced a catastrophic explosion. The walls blew out on the visible and opposite side of the containment building. Those walls are thick, reinforced concrete walls.
Efforts at containment obviously failed to stop the reactor core from blowing up. Smoke poured out after the explosion and it is feared the reactor is melting down following the failure of its cooling system. Containers of uranium fuel inside the reactor may have begun melting.
What it means is that this is much worse than Chernobyl. The explosion is much worse and the plant is larger with much more radioactive material than Chernobyl.
Japan has a history of covering up accidents such as this. Officially, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency insisted that there were only "slightly radioactive" emissions released which pose no risk to people or the environment.
Lisa Karpova
Pravda.Ru
