Japan Nuclear Reactor: 3 Cores in Danger (Infographic)

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: Emergency Escalates

The core meltdown risk has escalated at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was damaged in the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

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Three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi are now in danger of overheating. Tepco, which manages Fukushima Daiichi, has acknowledged that those three reactors may have suffered at least partial meltdowns.

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Japan Nuclear Explosion

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Japan has asked for international help in managing the disaster at the plant. Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that the likelihood of a "second Chernobyl" is unlikely, since Fukushima was shut down. Also, Fukushima Daiichi keeps its reactors in reactor vessels, which Chernobyl did not. Also, the Chernobyl meltdown (involving a graphite core, and not a boiled-water reactor core) was the result of design failures and operator errors.

These reassurances have not calmed the panic that is growing in Japan, however. Even if a Chernobyl-type failure isn't possible, further failure at Fukushima Daiichi could have an extremely harmful result on the surrounding area. That's one area in which Fukushima is like Chernobyl: government officials telling the public that everything is okay while behaving as though everything is far from okay.

Below is a diagram of the boiled-water reactor (BWR) , the type of nuclear reactor that powers Fukushima Daiichi.

Source:LiveScience