Nuclear Meltdown imminent for Japanese Reactor

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Japanese Prime Minister Nato Kan addressed his country regarding the predicted meltdown of  Fukushima nuclear power plant which was effected by this week’s earth quake and resultant tsunami in that region. There has been great concern by officials about radioactive leaks of vaporous materials from the plant. There were also two more explosions at Fukushima in the early morning hours. One explosion was at a reactor core that was not turned on at the time. The other explosion was in a previously thought to be intact reactor.

Presently the Prime Minister has called for complete evacuation due to the release of radioactive materials. According to Japanese officials the level of radioactive contamination has reached as high as 400 times the acceptable level. It has been reported by Japanese television in the span of just minutes this morning contamination levels shot up 8 fold.

 According to Christopher Simmons an associate professor at the International Christian University in Tokyo the resulting contamination from this morning’s leaks may be localized to the Fukushima area. It is estimated that those within 20 kilometers would face extreme exposure to radiation poisoning. In an interview on Russia Television (RTTV) Mr. Simmons seemed optimistic as to the dispersion of radioactive materials thus far. He did warn that should there be; as predicted, a “full meltdown” that the resulting damage to the human population and the environment could be catastrophic.

In the wake of such wide spread devastation the rescue efforts for those still missing as a result of the tsunami has slowed to ensure that those on rescue teams would be able to get to safety if and when a complete a meltdown occurs. It is conservatively estimated that there may be more than 40,000 dead from the earth quake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday.  There were a total of around 2,000 bodies found on several shores, including 1,000 in the town of Minamisanriku. This is the same town where 10,000 are missing after the tsunami. The city of Rikuzentakata, with a population of 23,000 people, was "almost completely wiped out", the fire department says. No information yet on how many survived. More than 80 percent of the city was flooded. But in the town of Otsuchi is where horrified officials believe that out of a population of 15,000 people, 12,000 people are missing.

With the devastation from the tsunami and a nuclear meltdown imminent, Japan is trying to prepare for the worst. Many nations have pledged to help however, until the situation with the nuclear reactors is under control, authorities are being extremely cautious.