Second blast at Japan nuclear plant - 11 Workers Injured !

Watch Video of Explosion


A second explosion rocked Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, sending a plume of smoke into the air and touching off fresh concerns of radioactive leak in the quake and tsunami-hit country.


The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday the reactor has not been damaged.


Tokyo Electric Power Co [TEPCO], the plant operator, in a press release said, it was believed to be a hydrogen explosion at the plant's No.3 reactor and that 11 workers were injured. The first explosion happened at the same plant on Saturday, at the reactor No. 1.


TEPCO said that the impact of radioactive materials to the outside environment are presently under investigation.


Yukio Edano, Japan's chief cabinet secretary said that a large-scale radiation leak was unlikely. Edano said the reactor's inner containment vessel holding the nuclear fuel rods was intact, allaying some fears of the risk to the environment.


Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi said the cooling system at reactor No. 2 has also failed, leading to a build-up of pressure in the containment vessel. That is the  same problem units one and three encountered before they exploded.


Meanwhile, at Fukushima plant, the work to cool the reactors with a mixture of seawater and boric acid continues – an untested method, underscoring the desperate nature of the situation.



'No possibility of a Chernobyl'


Japan's nuclear safety agency said there is "absolutely no possibility of a Chernobyl" style accident at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, Koichiro Genba, the national strategy minister said, as quoted by Jiji Press.



The minister made the comment citing the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency at a meeting of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.


Meanwhile, a US aircraft carrier deployed for relief efforts has repositioned after detecting low-level radiation from a malfunctioning nuclear power plants, a US statement has said.


People around the area, already ravaged by earthquake and tsunami, are worried at the prospects of a nuclear radiation.


"I am due to give birth soon, I want to know exactly what is going on at the nuclear plant. I am scared," said a woman.


Twenty people have tested positive for radiation exposure and that number looks likely to rise.