Japan scrambles to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant
At least 2,000 bodies found in two towns as rescue workers continue search
Fukushima: Japan on Monday scrambled to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant after a hydrogen explosion at one reactor and exposure of fuel rods at another, just days after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 10,000 people.
Roads and rail, power and ports have been crippled across much of Japan's northeast and estimates of the cost of the multiple disasters have leapt to as much as $170 billion (Dh624 billion). Analysts said the economy could even tip back into recession.
Japanese stocks closed down more than 7.5 per cent, wiping $287 billion off market capitalisation in the biggest fall since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008. Rescue workers combed the tsunami-battered region north of Tokyo for survivors and struggled to care for millions of people without power and water in what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has dubbed his country's worst crisis since the Second World War.
Officials say at least 10,000 people were likely killed in the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it. Kyodo news agency reported that 2,000 bodies had been found yesterday in two coastal towns alone.
"It's a scene from hell, absolutely nightmarish," said Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross Federation from the town of Otsuchi.
"The situation here is just beyond belief, almost everything has been flattened. The government is saying that 9,500 people, more than half of the population could have died and I do fear the worst."
Major leak
The big fear at the Fukushima nuclear complex, 240km north of Tokyo, is of a major radiation leak.
Jiji news agency said fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor had been entirely exposed and a fuel rod meltdown could not be ruled out. The plant operator confirmed there was little water left in the reactor. The explosion happened at the No. 3 reactor, two days after a blast at the No. 1 reactor.
A meltdown raises the risk of damage to the reactor vessel and a possible radioactive leak. Levels of cooling sea water around the reactor core had been reported as falling earlier in the day. Jiji said the pump had run out of fuel. Crucially, officials said the thick walls around the radioactive cores of the damaged reactors appeared to be intact after the earlier hydrogen blast.
The core container of the No. 3 reactor was intact after the explosion, the government said, but it warned those still in the 20km evacuation zone to stay indoors. The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) , said 11 people had been injured in the blast. Kyodo said 80,000 people had been evacuated from the zone, joining more than 450,000 other evacuees from quake and tsunami-hit areas in the northeast.
