Mar 12th 2011 – 12:50PM
CBC News
The radiation leak from an earthquake-damaged power plant is decreasing, Japanese officials said Saturday, amid fears of a nuclear meltdown after a blast that levelled the structure housing a reactor.The explosion on Saturday at the Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo crumbled much of the reactor building. Japanese news footage showed smoke billowing into the air, and only the building's metal frame was left standing.
Friday's massive 8.9-magnitude quake and the powerful tsunami it spawned ravaged Japan's northeastern coast, killing at least 586 people. Thousands of others were still unaccounted for on Saturday.
The twin disasters prompted Japan to declare states of emergency for five nuclear reactors at two power plants, with the Fukushima station raising the most concern. The plant's Unit 1 lost power and, consequently, its cooling abilities, which could cause a pressure buildup in the reactor.
But Japan's government spokesman Yukio Edano played down worries of a nuclear catastrophe, saying the metal vessel enveloping the reactor itself was still intact, despite the destruction of the building around it.
"We have confirmed that the walls of this building were what exploded, and it was not the reactor's container that exploded," he said.
AFP PHOTO /YOMIURI SHIMBUN
17 photos 
A fishing boat rests surrounded by debrid in the city of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture on March 12, 2011 a day after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the region. An explosion at a Japanese nuclear plant triggered fears of a meltdown on March 12, after the massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.
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Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Photos
A fishing boat rests surrounded by debrid in the city of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture on March 12, 2011 a day after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the region. An explosion at a Japanese nuclear plant triggered fears of a meltdown on March 12, after the massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.
AFP PHOTO /YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Jens Meyer, AP
Epic Tsunami Totals Japan
A video image shows the coastline and tsunami caused by an earthquake, on March 11, 2011 in Sendai, Japan. The earthquake, measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale, hit the northeast coast of Japan causing Tsunami alerts throughout countries bordering the Pacific Ocean.
This aerial shot shows boats being carried away at a flooded marina in Hitachinaka city in Ibaraki prefecture on March 11, 2011 after a tsunami hit following an earthquake.
Commuters make their way after train services are suspended after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.
Vehicles are crushed by a collapsed road at a carpark in Yabuki, in southern Fukushima Prefecture on March 11, 2011 after an earthquake rocked Japan. The earthquake hit Japan, unleashing a monster 10-metre high tsunami that sent ships crashing into the shore and carried cars through the streets of coastal towns.
Fishing boats and vehicles are carried by a tsunami wave at Onahama port in Iwaki city, in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan on March 11, 2011.
A shop owner chats with a neighbour as the pedestrian road has collapsed in the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Urayasu city, Chiba prefecture on March 11, 2011.
Residents check the damaged done on a road a house in Sukagawa city, Fukushima prefecture, in northern Japan on March 11, 2011.
A pedestrian road has collapsed in the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Urayasu city, Chiba prefecture on March 11, 2011.
A tsunami, tidal wave smashes vehicles and houses at Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan on March 11, 2011.
Local residents watch the devastation provoked by a tsunami tidal wave smashing vehicles and houses at Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan on March 11, 2011.
Tokyo Power Electric Co., which runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said four workers were being treated in hospital for minor injuries after the explosion.
Edano said radiation around the plant did not increase after the explosion and was actually decreasing. He added that pressure in the reactor was also down.
Evacuation radius increased to 20 km
Officials are nevertheless taking no chances, and on Saturday doubled the evacuation radius to 20 kilometres from 10 kilometres. Some 51,000 residents in what was considered the danger zone near the Fukushima plant were evacuated after the explosion.
According to Reuters, Japanese authorities have told the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission the government is preparing to hand out iodine to residents to help protect them from radiation exposure.
"People in the danger zones have been told to cover their mouths and noses with wet cloths," said freelance reporter Craig Dale, speaking to the CBC News on Saturday.
He added there were also instructions for residents to be aware of the possibility of "internal exposure" and to avoid eating fruits and vegetables until they get the all-clear from authorities.
'They're venting some of the steam now because one way to reduce the temperature and pressure is to let some of the air out of that, even if it's mildly radioactive.'- Jim Walsh, MIT nuclear threat expert.
A jet stream, or air current, could well carry radioactive fallout as far as B.C., the CBC's Belle Puri reported.
In Hawaii, a two-metre-high wave hit parts of Maui and smaller waves hit Oahu and Kauai. In northern California, authorities were searching for a man believed swept out to sea.
Condolences and offers of aid poured in from around the world, including Canada. Japan has requested search and rescue teams from several countries.
UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon said the United Nations would do everything it can to help. The U.S. is sending another aircraft carrier to the region along with equipment that can lift huge loads.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he spoke Friday with Japan's ambassador to Canada. "I offered any support and assistance that may be needed by that country," Harper told a news conference in Guelph, Ont.
"Our officials at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo are working with Japanese authorities to determine whether any Canadians have been injured by the earthquake or the tsunami."
So far, there are no reports of Canadian casualties.
Quake moved Honshu 2.5 metres Japan is used to earthquakes and has instituted strict building codes and carries out frequent earthquake and tsunami drills. But the sheer intensity of Friday's disaster was such that even the best preparation could only mitigate the tragedy.
Officials said the initial quake was the most powerful one to hit the region in 1,200 years. The USGS says the force of the quake was so strong that Honshu - Japan's biggest island - was moved 2.5 metres to the east.
The quake was 8,000 times more powerful than the one that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, in February.
The Canadian Red Cross quickly launched a Japan Earthquake/Tsunami fund. In the first nine hours, officials told CBC News that Canadians had donated $176,000.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also set up a Family Links website to help people trying to re-establish contact with missing family members and friends. The ICRC says the worst hit areas are in the prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Tochigi and Ibaraka
The worst-case scenario would be a Chernobyl-scale catastrophe, with explosions destroying the reactors and sending a deadly plume of radioactivity into the atmosphere. The Chernobyl accident 25 years ago in Ukraine spewed radiation over much of Europe after a nuclear reactor exploded and caught fire.
But such a scenario would be highly unlikely in Japan, said Jim Walsh of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is an expert on nuclear threats.
If the containment vessel around the reactor has not been touched, it should act as a layer of defence to prevent radiation from escaping, he told CBC's Mark Kelly.
The main issue is how to cool down the reactor, which has already been shut down.
Walsh said the concern was that with an increase in temperature and pressure, the fuel for the reactor could melt.
"And if it melts and somehow escapes the reactor vessel and touches the air, it will explode."
Japanese officials are continuing to monitor radiation levels in the area. Pressure at the Fukushima reactor was double its normal level, prompting officials to release slightly radioactive vapours to reduce pressure.
"They're venting some of the steam now because one way to reduce the temperature and pressure is to let some of the air out of that, even if it's mildly radioactive," Walsh said. "That's better than the alternative."
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