Battle to prevent meltdown could take weeks, says US
Gregory Jazcko, speaking in Washington DC, said that radiation levels around the cooling pool were extremely high, posing deadly risks for workers racing against time to contain the damage caused by an earthquake and a tsunami.
“It would be very difficult for emergency workers to get near the reactors. The doses they could experience would potentially be lethal doses in a very short period of time,” he said.
Emergency workers tested every option yesterday in an effort to douse one of the dangerously overheated nuclear reactors, including helicopters, heavy-duty fire trucks, even water cannons. But there was no way of knowing how effective their actions were in reducing the risk of meltdown.
Three reactors have had partial meltdowns, but the greatest danger now is the state of pools used to store spent nuclear fuel. Some pools are dry or nearly empty and the rods could heat up and spew radiation.
Mr Jazcko said it could take days and “possibly weeks” to get the complex under control.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the situation at the plant was now reasonably stable, but warned it could get worse.
The mood in Tokyo last night, 220km from the nuclear plant, was reported as relatively calm, despite power cuts and a temporary shutdown of bank ATMs.
Low levels of radiation have been detected well beyond Tokyo, but hazardous levels have been limited to the plant itself.
The US said it was sending aircraft to help Americans leave the country.
Health experts said panic over radiation leaks was diverting attention from other life-threatening risks facing the survivors of last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, such as cold, heavy snow and access to fresh water.
Financial leaders of the world’s richest nations held talks last night on ways to calm global markets.
Meanwhile, Dr Ann McGarry, chief executive of the Radiological Protection Institute, has re-iterated her advice that “it is highly unlikely, due to the distance involved, that radioactive material released into the environment in Japan will reach Ireland”.
