Radiation down after blast

The metal container sheltering a nuclear reactor was not affected by an explosion that destroyed the building it is in, Japan’s government spokesman said today.

Yukio Edano said the radiation around the plant did not rise after the blast but instead was decreasing.

He added that pressure in the reactor was also decreasing.

Pressure and heat have been building at the nuclear reactor since an earthquake and tsunami on Friday caused its cooling system to fail.

An explosion today blew out the walls of the building housing the reactor.

The government has ordered people within a 12-mile radius of the plant in Fukushima to evacuate the area.

Yaroslov Shtrombakh, a Russian nuclear expert, has said that a Chernobyl-style meltdown is "unlikely" at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.

“It’s not a fast reaction like at Chernobyl,” he said. “I think that everything will be contained within the grounds, and there will be no big catastrophe.”

In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded and caught fire, sending a cloud of radiation over much of Europe.

The evacuation area around the plant was later expanded to a radius of 12 miles.

“Everyone wants to get out of the town. But the roads are terrible,” said Reiko Takagi, a middle-aged woman, standing outside a taxi company. “It is too dangerous to go anywhere. But we are afraid that winds may change and bring radiation toward us.”