170,000 evacuated amid nuclear fears

JAPAN’S nuclear crisis has intensified as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and evacuated more than 170,000 people after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Amid fears of possible radioactive contamination, nuclear plant operators are trying to keep temperatures down in a series of reactors — including one where officials feared a partial meltdown could be under way — to prevent the disaster from growing worse.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano also said that a hydrogen explosion could occur at Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, the latest reactor to face a possible meltdown.