Fire At Japanese Nuke Plant, Spike In Radiation Japanese
Earthquake And Tsunami Updates UPDATE: Wednesday, 16 March 2011
6:10am CST Japanese authorities have been desperately trying to
prevent an environmental catastrophe at the crippled Fukushima
Dai-ichi nuclear complex some 140 miles north of Tokyo.Â Workers
at the facility have been scrambling to keep the radioactive
cores of the reactors from evaporating, which would lead to
overheating and possibly a dangerous meltdown. The tsunami that
hit Japan following the devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake
knocked out the backup diesel generators required to cool the
facility’s fuel rods, triggering the current crisis. In the
latest in a series of setbacks, Japan ordered workers to
withdraw from the complex on Wednesday due to a spike in
radiation levels.Â The spike was apparently the result of a
release of pressure that had accumulated in the No. 2 reactor,
officials said. Steam and pressure build up in the reactors as
workers frantically scramble to cool the fu