At 3:10 pm Eastern Time Japanese authorities informed the IAEA that the explosion at Unit 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant occurred outside the primary containment vessel, not inside. The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has confirmed that the integrity of the primary containment vessel remains intact.
To restore cooling to the reactor core, TEPCO began injecting sea water mixed with boron into the primary containment vessel at 20:20 local Japan time (06:20:00 Saturday March 12 Eastern Time).
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) have confirmed the presence of caesium-137 and iodine-131 in the vicinity of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1. NISA reported an initial increase in levels of radioactivity around the plant earlier today, but these levels have been observed to lessen in recent hours.
Containment remains intact at Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 2 and 3.
Evacuations around both affected nuclear plants have begun. In the 20-kilometre radius around Fukushima Daiichi an estimated 170,000 people have been evacuated. In the 10-kilometre radius around Fukushima Daini an estimated 30,000 people have been evacuated. Full evacuation measures have not been completed.
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