Japan Crisis

A powerful explosion hit a second reactor at Japanese nuclear plant damaged by the quake early Tuesday morning, the third since the explosion on Saturday, the plant operator said.

"It 's been a big explosion," between 6:00 (2100 GMT Monday) at 6:15 and two in No. A Fukushima nuclear reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), said a spokeswoman.

The government also reported damage to a visible part of the container to protect the reactor at the Fukushima same 250 km (155 miles) north of Tokyo, but it was not clear whether this is due to the explosion.

Chief Cabinet Secretary said Yukio Edano suppression pool of journalists reactor number two appeared to have been injured.

This is at the bottom of the tank, which keeps the water cooling and controlling the air pressure inside.

"But we have not recorded any sudden jumps in the indicators of radiation" Edano said.

At the beginning of a cloud of radioactive dust escaping from the power plant in Fukushima Daiichi after suffering his second blast in three days.

Officials admitted that he was "very likely" that the fuel rods in three separate reactors had begun to melt, despite repeated efforts to cool seawater Security officers said they could not not exclude a complete collapse as workers struggled to keep under control the temperature in the heart of the reactors.

crisis Fukushima rates now as a most serious accident that the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979 and is the second disaster at Chernobyl in 1986, according to the French nuclear safety authority. After insisting for three days the situation was under control, Japan launched an urgent appeal to U.S. experts and support the UN nuclear technique for preventing fuel rods red hot casting.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was "unlikely" that the accident would become another Chernobyl, but not completely excluded.

More than 500,000 people were made homeless by the earthquake and tsunami on Friday, which is estimated to have killed at least 10,000. More than 2,000 bodies were dumped on the beaches along the Pacific coast of Japan, but rescuers have not yet reached the isolated towns and villages in some of the worst affected areas.

The tragedy is to become the costliest natural disaster in history, the repair bill could reach £ 100 000 000 000.

The economic impact is already being felt around the world of yesterday, while falling 6.2 percent in the Nikkei

index launched by heavy losses in stock markets elsewhere. London, the FTSE-100 fell by nearly one percent during the day, wiping 15 billion pounds off the value of the shares.

David Cameron, said there were "serious concerns" about a number of Brits living in the disaster zone who have not yet been in contact with their families. The Foreign Ministry said its helpline received 4,700 emergency calls from people concerned about relationships, but there were no confirmed reports of British casualties.

Fears that the collapse of the north plant in Fukushima Daiichi 150 km of Tokyo, is significantly increased when the explosion yesterday morning, the reactor No. 3. Explosion injured 11 employees and released so much radiation for hours waiting for over six months. E 'faces a maximum of 160 persons at high doses, and 22 were treated with radiation.

As the No. 1 reactor in an explosion Saturday, the problem was caused by an accumulation of hydrogen released from the waters surrounding the reactor temperature rose to more than 2200 C.

Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, then discovered the radiation is increased by 100 nautical miles from the coast of Japan and the meteorologist said that the wind direction will change during the night, blow the radioactive cloud inland. Investigators said he did not pose a risk to health.

Seventeen U.S. helicopters to help relief work in people exposed to levels equivalent to one month of normal background radiation, but was declared after the contamination, cleaned the bottom.

As technicians tried to restrain the temperature inside the reactor, all three works have been warnings about the explosion of a possible third in the fuel rods inside the reactor No. 2 was fully exposed.

The workers managed to pump sea water sufficient to cover the bars of the reactor, but is partially exposed last night. Ryohei Shiomi, an official of Japan for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said auctions, all three reactors seemed to melt.

"Units one and three are at least somewhat stabilized for the moment," he said. "The second unit now require that all our efforts and attention."

Yukio Edan, Chief of Staff, said it was "highly probable" that the fuel rods had melted.

In the case of a collapse where the cores of uranium bottom through the containment external high radiation would be released into the environment, a major risk to health.

André-Claude Lacoste, director of the Nuclear Safety Authority in France, the world's second largest producer of nuclear energy, said the accident was "worse than Three Mile Island, but not as great as that of Chernobyl." The partial meltdown in Pennsylvania in 1979 ranked five out of seven internationally, with Chernobyl fixed at seven.

While Japan is a nuclear safety agency Fukushima rate at four, Lacoste said: "We feel that we are at least as level five, and probably in six years, I say this after talking to my Japanese colleagues .. "

Yukiya Amano, Director General of IAEA, said he was "very unlikely" to turn into a disaster similar to Chernobyl as "the design is different and the structure is different," making reactors are much safer. But local residents were suspicious of the official assurance, after accusations of concealment in the past.

Kyoko Nambu, whose home was destroyed by the tsunami, said: "It 's like a horror movie Our house is gone and now we are told to stay at home ..

"We can see the damage to our homes, but the radiation? We have no idea what is happening. I'm so scared."

Worldwide, Germany and Switzerland have responded to the suspension of plans for new reactors. Italy and Poland said they reconsider their plan to invest in nuclear energy, and the Friends of the Earth urged the British government to abandon its own plans for new reactors.

Andy Atkins, executive director of campaign group, said: "We can not continue down the nuclear path until the lessons of this crisis have been learned."