Viranomaiset ovat juuri varmistaneen täydellisen reaktorituhon Fukushiman voimalaitoksen ykkösreaktorissa. Tämä vahvistus muuttaa virallisestikin koko voimalaonnettomuuden tilannetta ja pahimman myönnetään nyt tapahtuneen. Sula ydinlaava valuu rikkoutuneesta reaktorista ympäristöön ja säteilee todella voimakkaasti. Tepco toteaa uusivansa suunnitelmiaan tilanteen hallitsemiseksi.
Lisää uutisesta alla, sekä mm: http://gizmodo.com/5801376/its-official-fukushima-was-hit-with-a-full+blown-nuclear-meltdown
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 2:01PM BST 12 May 2011
Engineers from the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) entered the No.1 reactor at the end of last week for the first time and saw the top five feet or so of the core's 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down.
Previously, Tepco believed that the core of the reactor was submerged in enough water to keep it stable and that only 55 per cent of the core had been damaged.
Now the company is worried that the molten pool of radioactive fuel may have burned a hole through the bottom of the containment vessel, causing water to leak.
"We will have to revise our plans," said Junichi Matsumoto, a spokesman for Tepco. "We cannot deny the possibility that a hole in the pressure vessel caused water to leak".
Tepco has not clarified what other barriers there are to stop radioactive fuel leaking if the steel containment vessel has been breached. Greenpeace said the situation could escalate rapidly if "the lava melts through the vessel".