New Video Shows Disaster at Fukushima Nuclear Plant; Japan Tightens Regulations

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Action for Freedom — 4 Comments

Source: VOA

Newly released video of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami is giving the world a better look at its devastating impact on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The brief clip put out by the Tokyo Electric Power Company Saturday shows a wall of water slamming into the plant, easily overwhelming the facility’s protective seawall.

The release of the video clip comes the same day Japanese officials announced they were requiring the country’s nuclear facilities to take additional precautions.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Saturday all nuclear facilities will now have need two emergency backup generators instead of one.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

The March 11 disaster knocked out the Fukushima plant’s only backup power generator, preventing workers from cooling the nuclear reactors.

Other Japanese nuclear power plants also faced problems Thursday after a magnitude 7.1 aftershock hit Japan, temporarily cutting power to those facilities. At one facility, the Onagawa plant in northeast Japan, radioactive water spilled inside the reactors.

The aftershock briefly stopped cleanup and containment efforts at the Fukushima plant, but officials said there did not appear to be any additional damage.

Workers at the plant have been struggling to bring the radiation leaks at the facility under control since the earthquake and tsunami hit nearly a month ago. The government has imposed a 20-kilometer evacuation cordon around the plant because of concerns about radiation.

The death toll from the quake and tsunami has climbed past 12,700, and 15,000 people are still unaccounted for. Japan’s NHK television reports 150,000 people are still living in temporary shelters.