Nuclear reactor 1 at Fukushima Daiichi is surrounded by a steel reactor container, which is then surrounded by a concrete building. Due to the falling level of cooling water, hydrogen was generated and that leaked to the space between the building and the container and the explosion happened when the hydrogen mixed with oxygen there. According to Reuters, although the concrete building surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi 1 reactor has collapsed, the reactor container inside hadn’t exploded. TEPCO has reported that they have confirmed that the explosion was not inside the reactor and the reactor container was not damaged. Apparently there has not been a large amount of radiation leakage outside the reactor. The government says that “At this point, there has been no major change to the level of radiation leakage outside (from before and after the explosion), so we’d like everyone to respond calmly”.
According to the government, TEPCO plans to fill the reactor with sea water to cool it down and reduce pressure in the unit. Boric acid will be used to prevent criticality.
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