1. CNN
Cooling system fails in another reactor at Japanese nuclear plant
Tokyo (CNN) -- Another reactor at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant lost its cooling capabilities Monday, a government official said.
The problem was detected in the plant's No. 2 reactor Monday afternoon after an explosion rocked the building containing the plant's No. 3 reactor, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.
"We think that the hydrogen explosion in (the building housing) reactor No. 3 caused the cooling system of reactor No. 2 to stop working," Edano said.
Water levels were falling and pressure was building up inside the No. 2 reactor, he said, and officials were working on a plan to release gas and also inject seawater into that reactor.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/14/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1
2. The New York Times
Second Explosion at Reactor as Technicians Try to Contain Damage
TOKYO — The risk of partial meltdown at a stricken nuclear power plant in Japan increased on Monday as cooling systems failed at a third reactor, possibly exposing its fuel rods, only hours after a second explosion at a separate reactor blew the roof off a containment building.
The widening problems underscore the difficulties Japanese authorities are having in bringing several damaged reactors under control three days after a devastating earthquake and a tsunami hit Japan’s northeast coast and shut down the electricity that runs the crucial cooling systems for reactors.
Operators fear that if they cannot establish control, despite increasingly desperate measures to do so, the reactors could experience meltdowns, which would release catastrophic amounts of radiation.
It was unclear if radiation was released by Monday’s explosion, but a similar explosion at another reactor at the plant over the weekend did release radioactive material.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html?hp
3. BBC
Meltdown alert at Japan reactor
The Fukushima Daiichi plant's operators said they could not rule out a fuel rod meltdown, after a cooling system broke.
They are injecting seawater into reactor 2 after its fuel rods became almost fully exposed.
A cooling system breakdown preceded explosions at the plant's reactor 3 on Monday and reactor 1 on Saturday.
The latest hydrogen blast injured 11 people, one of them seriously, and sent a huge column of smoke billowing into the air.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, is playing down any health risk.
The utility says thick containment walls shielding the reactor cores have remained intact.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12733393
4. The USA Today
Blast destroys nuclear power station roof in Japan
TOKYO — An explosion Monday afternoon ripped through Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station in northeastern Japan and destroyed the roof of a reactor building. The Japanese government quickly imposed a 12 mile quarantine and required residents to immediately evacuate, but said those beyond were not at risk.
The explosion sent a huge column of smoke into the air and wounded 11 workers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-14-japan-reactor-explosion_N.htm
5. Reuters
(Reuters) - The Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima is built right on the shoreline in northeast Japan. So when an 8.9 magnitude earth quake struck on Friday, the giant tsunami waves it spawned crashed over the reactors and put them at risk of a meltdown.
A hydrogen explosion rocked the plant on Monday, sending a huge cloud of smoke over the area while engineers flooded the three reactors in the complex with sea water in a desperate attempt to prevent what was shaping up as the worst nuclear emergency since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.
Nuclear fuel rods at one of the reactors may have become became fully exposed raising the risk they could melt down and cause a radioactive leak, Japanese news agency Jiji said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110314
Let's pray for Japan.
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