Nuclear Meltdown

SNAPSHOT - Japan's nuclear crisis

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-03-18 10:46

TOKYO - Following are main developments after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeast Japan and crippled a nuclear power station, raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation.

* White smoke or steam rises from reactors No 2, 3 and 4 at the crippled Fukushimi Daiichi plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency says. It says it believes there is still water in the spent fuel pool at reactor No 3. After a power cable was run into the facility, experts aim to get power restored to reactors No 1 and 2 on Friday.

* Finance Chiefs from G7 countries, after a teleconference,  said authorities from the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Central Bank will join with Japan in foreign exchange intervention from Friday -- at the request of Japanese authorities. The dollar jumped nearly 3 percent to a high of 81.49 after the announcement.

* The UN Nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, describes the situation at the plant as "reasonably stable" with no major worsening.

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Special Coverage:   Earthquake hits Japan

Engineers work through the night to lay a 1.5 km (one mile) electricity cable to the complex in order to restart pumps needed to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods.

* US President Barack Obama says he has requested a comprehensive review of US nuclear facilities, while maintaining his support for atomic energy. He pledged support for Japan while seeking to aid and evacuate Americans from the country.

- Military helicopters and fire trucks had earlier poured water on the overheating plant. A water cannon doused No 3 reactor, the top priority for authorities with plutonium fuel inside. Smoke and steam had been escaping from the unit, indicating water evaporating from the cooling pool.

- United States sends aircraft to fly out nationals from Japan, authorises voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff.

- An official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Administration says three of the plant's six reactors - Nos. 1, 5 and 6 - are relatively stable.

- Eighteen months before the crisis, US diplomats had lambasted the IAEA's safety chief for incompetence, especially when it came to the nuclear power industry in his native Japan, according to cables sent by the US embassy in Vienna to Washington. The cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and reviewed by Reuters, singled out Tomihiro Taniuchi, until last year the IAEA's head of safety and security.

- US to fly a drone over the complex to assess the emergency. Australia again urges nationals in Tokyo and eight prefectures to consider leaving Japan. That warning was because of infrastructure problems, not the fear of radiation.

-  Tokyo is safe for international travellers, the Japanese Red Cross says, but airlines pull in extra, larger aircraft to help thousands of people leave and some begin screening aircraft, passengers and crew for radiation.

* The Pentagon says it will allow all dependents of US military personnel to leave Japan's Honshu island while Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says passengers and cargo arriving in the United States from Japan would be checked for radiation.

- Estimates of losses to Japanese output from damage to buildings, production and consumer activity range from 10 to 16 trillion yen ($125-$200 billion), up to 1 1/2 times the economic losses from the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

- Nuclear crisis diverts attention from the tens of thousands affected by last week's earthquake and tsunami. About 850,000 households in the north without electricity in near-freezing weather. Death toll is expected to exceed 10,000.