Panicked residents start to flee Tokyo as radiation levels rise after THIRD blast at stricken nuclear power plant








Radiation leaking directly into the air from stricken Fukushima nuclear plant

Power station has now suffered three reactor explosions and one fire

One reactor core 'exposed to the atmosphere' through crack in containment wall

Radiation levels up to ten times higher than normal in Tokyo



Mass exodus as thousands residents flee towns close to reactor

Experts warn of cancer risk

Japan seeks help from U.S. to spray water on over-heating reactors from helicopters

Scores of terrified residents began to flee Tokyo today as a nuclear power plant destroyed by the tsunami threatened to send a cloud of radioactive dust across Japan.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant suffered a third reactor explosion last night, another reactor on the site caught fire - and officials today announced the wall of one reactor was cracked.



Radiation levels have soared acoss the country as radioactive material spewed directly into the atmosphere while emergency crews fought to avoid a catastrophic meltdown.

Levels of radiation were ten times higher than normal in the capital today, as experts warned that people in Japan could face an increased cancer risk even if the crisis does not deteriorate.



Destroyed: This before and after shot shows the Fukushima nuclear plant before the tsunami, left, and location of and damage to the four reactors, right, after the explosions

Intact: the four reactor buildings at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant before the blast. Three of the buildings have blown up and there was a fire at the other Serious: the graphic right shows the International Atomic Agency's system of rating nuclear accidents. Fukushima is officially a level four but French nuclear scientists today said it was definitely a level six



WORST JAPANESE STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE SINCE 1987

The Japanese stock market has suffered its worst two days for more than 20 years in the wake of the tsunami and growing nuclear crisis.

There are fears any deterioration in the Fukushima crisis will trigger panic selling of Japanese shares.

Tokyo's Nikkei index of leading shares closed down 10.6 per cent today after a 6 per cent fall yesterday.

And when Prime MInister Naoto Kan suggested that the country faces more radiation leaks today, shares plunged by 14 per cent before recovering slightly

Nevertheless, plant officials are seeking the help of the American military to spray the overheating reactors with water from helicopters, to avoid exposing workers to 'very acute' levels of radiation on the ground at the plant.



Although forecasters say wind is blowing the harmful material out to sea, some Tokyo residents began to flee and others started panic buying emergency supplies.



Health officials have stressed that the radiation levels outside the 18-mile exclusion zone are not harmful, but experts warn residents could still face an increased cancer risk.



Lam Ching-wan, a chemical pathologist at the University of Hong Kong, said: 'The explosions could expose the population to longer-term radiation which can raise the risk of cancer. These are thyroid cancer, bone cancer and leukaemia. Children and foetuses are especially vulnerable.'

As Tokyo residents began panic buying, Don Quixote, a multi-storey, 24-hour general store in Tokyo sold out of radios, flashlights, candles and sleeping bags.



Scores of residents were also fleeing, with the Foreign Office advising against all non-essential travel to Tokyo and the north-east of Japan.

China also said it would evacuate its citizens from areas worst affected and s everal embassies advised staff and citizens to leave affected areas. Tourists cut short vacations and multinational companies either urged staff to leave or said they were considering plans to move outside Tokyo.



'Everyone is going out of the country today,' said Gunta Brunner, a 25-year-old creative director from Argentina. 'With the radiation, it's like you cannot escape and you can't see it.'



'No risk': A map of wind patterns around the Fukushima blast. Forecasters say that prevailing winds will take radioactive material out to open ocean, but radiation levels are rising around Tokyo

AMERICA ON RADIATION ALERT

There are growing fears that nuclear fall out from the Fukushima reactor could hit the United States.

Scientists warned yesterday of a 'worst-case scenario' in which the highly radioactive material could be blasted into the atmosphere and blown towards the West Coast by the Pacific jet stream - as seen in the graphic above.

They said it could be picked up by powerful 30,000ft winds, carrying the debris across the Pacific and hitting the West Coast. Some estimates claimed the radiation could arrive on America's shores by this evening.

'Right now it's quite possible that there could be some radiation floating over the United States,' said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman David McIntyre.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan this morning admitted that there was a possibility of more leaks. He said in a televised address: ' The possibility of further radioactive leakage is heightening. We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask you to act calmly.'

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano also issued a stern warning to residents in the danger zone this morning.



He said: 'Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight .These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that.

'Now we are talking about levels [of leaking radiation] that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower.'

Some 70,000 people had already been evacuated from a 12-mile radius around the Dai-ichi complex before the third blast last night. About 140,000 remain in the new warning zone. The crisis has injured 11 plant workers and exposed 160 people to significant levels of radiation.

All but 50 workers have been evacuated from the Fukushima plant, with the remaining employees frantically trying to keep pumping sea water into the reactors to cool them and stop a catastrophic meltdown.

Although they have protective suits, they risk exposure to 'very acute' levels of radiation that seem likely to have serious consequences for their health.



There were reports that a fire engine pumping water in to the Number Two reactor failed shortly before last night's explosion -which would have led to an increase in temperature inside the reactor and could have caused the blast.



Edano warned that there were signs that fuel rods were melting in all three reactors. ‘Although we cannot directly check it, it’s highly likely to be happening,’ he added.



Experts said the nightmare scenario at Fukushima was of a meltdown which triggers a massive build-up of pressure inside the containment unit. If the unit cracks, a plume of radioactive dust and gas would spill hundreds of miles into the air.

Officials have been struggling to pacify the public's concerns about radioactive material escaping into the atmosphere.

The Mayor of Fukushima City, Mr Tananori Seto yesterday warned of grave consequences for people who were living within a 20km range of the power station if they stepped out from their homes.

He admitted that although evacuations had begun in the past two days, many people had remained in their homes - and now they were trapped there.

'It is too dangerous to go outside and even if they did they would not be able to be transported to a safe place because we have no fuel for our vehicles,' he said.

'We need more information from the government. We aren't getting enough information.'

Mr Seto said he hoped those who were still in their homes would keep a watch on their TVs and listen to their radios for updates.

'Don't even step outside to hang out your washing,' he said. 'If you've already done your washing, don't bring it in from the line because it will be contaminated.'

People have been told to take showers if they think they have been contaminated but in many places there is no running water.



Water stored in outside tanks, officials warned, would be contaminated anyway.

Serious questions now surrounding the safety of the three crippled reactors.

The latest explosion last night is feared to have cracked the main protective barrier around reactor number two at the plant.



The International Atomic Agency said radioactive material is leaking 'directly' into the air from the stricken plant at a rate of 400 millisieverts per hour. Anyone exposed to over 100 millisieverts a year risks cancer.

Inside the reactor: These shots show the interior of the Number Three reactor at Fukushima nuclear plant before the crisis. The large pool is used to cool the nuclear fuel rods, which can be seen under the water, right. But the tsunami knocked out cooling systems, causing the fuel rods to overheat and risk a meltdown



Clean up: Japanese soldiers prepare to wash away radioactive material emitted by the in the stricken reactor Engineers are using sea water to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods.

That is a sign of the desperation of the situation because the corrosive salt water will put the reactors permenantly out of action. It is the first time in 57 years that sea water has been used to cool a reactor.

Although the plant’s three working reactors shut down automatically when the magnitude nine earthquake struck on Friday, the cooling systems which keep the radioactive uranium and plutonium fuel rods cool have been hit by a series of failures. The three reactor explosions were triggered as engineers released steam to prevent a dangerous build-up of pressure inside the sealed reactor. At superheated temperatures inside the core the water vapour had split into hydrogen and oxygen which ignited, destroying the outer building and injuring 11 people, one seriously. Without coolant, fuel rods can overheat and melt. In a serious meltdown, radioactive molten material falls through the floor of the containment vessel into the ground underneath. After Japan’s request to the United States for help cooling the reactors, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was considering providing technical advice. President Barack Obama offered any help the U.S. could provide to help recover from its ‘multiple disasters’. Scientists say there are serious dangers but little risk of a catastrophe similar to the 1986 blast in Chernobyl, where the reactor did not have a containment shell. Some said the length of time since the crisis began showed the chemical reactions inside the reactor were not moving quickly toward a complete meltdown.

Growing fears: A man hands out a special edition newspaper reporting on the Fukushima Nuclear Reactors in Tokyo

Scans: A Red Cross rescue worker is scanned for signs of radiation upon returning from Fukushima to his hospital in Nagahama. Officials said that 190 people have been exposed to some radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant

Evacuation: Residents shelter in Sendai city in Miyagi after being evacuated from their homes following the blasts at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Hundreds of thousands have been evacuated amid growing fears that the plant could go into meltdown



Disaster shows nuclear should be scrapped, say green groups

Green campaigners wasted no time in exploiting the disaster, claiming it proved nuclear power could never be safe.

Greenpeace warned that Japan faced a nuclear meltdown, while the Green Party called on the Coalition to scrap its nuclear programme.

Green Party leader and MP Caroline Lucas also called for an EU level inquiry into the wider implications of the nuclear accident.

Steve Campbell, of Greenpeace, said: ‘This proves once and for all that nuclear power cannot ever be safe. Japan’s nuclear plants were built with the latest technology, specifically to withstand natural disasters, yet we still face potential meltdown.’

'Necer safe': Anti-nuclear activists wearing masks hold a protest today near the presidential palace in Manila in the Phillippines

Greenpeace was also concerned about the lack of data on the total amount of radiation already released, and whether the areas where spent radioactive fuel is dumped – outside the containment area of the reactor – were secure.

But nuclear scientists said the earthquake had highlighted how Japan’s power stations were robust.

Professor Paddy Regan, a nuclear physicist at Surrey University, said: ‘We had a doomsday earthquake in a country with 55 nuclear power stations and they all shut down perfectly, although three have had problems since.

‘This was a huge earthquake, and as a test of the resilience and robustness of nuclear plants it seems they have withstood the effects very well.’

Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, has ordered a review of the safety of the country’s nuclear reactors. The UK is poised to build a new generation of nuclear power stations over the next decade.