Update:
- Fears of meltdown with fuel rods ‘fully exposed’ at Japan reactor (Sydney Morning Herald)

A satellite photo of the Fukushima Daiichi plant showed the damage done to reactors 1 and 3, where there was an explosion on Monday
- Meltdown alert at Japan reactor (BBC NEWS):
Technicians are battling to stabilise a third reactor at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant, which has been rocked by a second blast in three days.
The fuel rods inside reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant have been fully exposed on two separate occasions, raising fears of a meltdown.
Sea water is being pumped into the reactor to try to prevent overheating.
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. It was felt 40km (25 miles) away and sent a huge column of smoke into the air.
The outer building around the reactor was largely destroyed.
Japanese Nuclear Crisis Escalates

Japan is racing against time to prevent a potential nuclear disaster after a third reactor at the quake-stricken power plant north of Tokyo went into meltdown on Monday.
Engineers have been battling for three days to prevent a nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power’s Daiichi plant in Fukushima. But they have faced successive setbacks trying to cool down three reactors whose cooling systems were damaged after Japan was struck by a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on Friday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday evening said Japan had requested “expert missions” to help tackle the escalating nuclear crisis.
Tepco said elevated radiation levels were detected nearby after water levels at reactor No. 2 fell dangerously low for several hours. Early Tuesday morning in Japan, Tepco said coolant water inside the No. 2 reactor fell dangerously low for a second time on Monday night, leaving its fuel rods completely exposed
In the first full day of trading since the earthquake, Japan’s equity market reacted violently even as the Bank of Japan announced it would inject a record Y21,800bn ($265bn) in funds to financial institutions. The Nikkei plunged 6.2 per cent, its biggest drop in more than two years.
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Tags: Japan, Nikkei, Nuclear, Nuclear reactors, Stock Market