Michael Corradini, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of engineering physics, is an expert on nuclear power and nuclear safety. He can discuss aspects of nuclear power and reactor safety as they relate to the events at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. Japanese nuclear regulations regarding radiation release dictated the plant announce a site emergency; however, says Corradini, radiation levels outside the plant are low. Read more
On a comparative scale of nuclear crises, the Fukushima disaster is "worse than Three Mile Island but not as great as Chernobyl," Andre-Claude Lacoste, head of France's Nuclear Safety Authority, said Monday. Read more
The fuel rods in the number two reactor at a quake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan are again "fully exposed", officials said early on Tuesday, boosting fears of an eventual partial meltdown. Read more
The Fukushima Daiichi plant's operators have resumed pumping seawater into reactor 2 after a cooling system broke. They warned of a possible meltdown when the fuel rods became exposed after the pump stopped as its fuel ran out. Read more
Japan earthquake: Meltdown alert at Fukushima reactor
Technicians are battling to stabilise a third reactor at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant, following the latest explosion to rock the facility. Fukushima Daiichi plant's operators said they could not rule out a fuel rod meltdown, after a cooling system broke. Read more
Ed ~ Fuel rods in the Fukushima Daiichi complex's No.2 reactor are fully exposed
A second explosion has hit a Japanese nuclear plant that was damaged in Friday's earthquake, but officials said the reactor core was still intact. TV footage showed smoke rising from Fukushima Daiichi's reactor 3, two days after an explosion hit reactor 1. The latest blast, said to have been caused by a hydrogen build-up, injured 11 people, one of them seriously. Soon afterwards, the government said a third reactor at the plant had lost its cooling system. Read more
In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit. This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world. But the term "in principle" is the difficult one. Read more
The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, often referred to as Fukushima Dai-ichi, is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Okuma in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture. With six separate units located on site with a combined power of 4.7 GW, Fukushima I is one of the 25 largest nuclear power stations in the world. Fukushima I is the first nuclear plant to be constructed and run entirely by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). Read more