Residents ordered to evacuate after Japan nuke plant is rocked by giant earthquake

TOKYO — The Japanese government has issued an evacuation order to thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant rocked by the giant 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the Pacific Rim nation Friday.

Japan's nuclear safety agency said the order applied to more than 2,800 people followed an government emergency declaration at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant northeast of Tokyo after its cooling system failed in the wake of the quake.

The agency said workers are currently scrambling to restore cooling water supply at the facility, but that there was no prospect for an immediate success.

The plant, which is in Onahama city, about 170 miles northeast of Tokyo, experienced a mechanical failure in the backup power generation system to supply water needed to cool the reactor. The reactor core remains hot even after a shutdown.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that the plant was not in immediate danger of radiation leak.

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"We launched the measure so we can be fully prepared for the worst scenario," Edano added. "We are using all our might to deal with the situation."

Meanwhile, an administrator at the Tohoku Electric Power Co's nearby Onagawa facility said the process for the cooling reactor is "not going as planned," adding that "nuclear emergency situation" has been declared. The company asked people nearby to stay calm, the official TV news channel NHK reported.
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A fire broke out at the plant following the quake, the Kyodo news agency said. The blaze occurred in a turbine building and was quickly extinguished. Smoke was seen coming from the building, which is separate from the plant's reactor.

Another plant at Onagawa, which is in the worst-hit Miyagi prefecture and further north from the Fukushima facility, also is experiencing a water leak, though it is unclear whether the incident is signficant.

Emergency cooling
The four Japanese nuclear power plants closest to the epicenter of the quake have been safely shut down, the United Nations atomic watchdog said Friday. Eleven nuclear reactors were automatically shut down in the quake-affected area, the government said.
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Prime Minister Naoto Kan said: "Parts of nuclear plants were automatically shut down but we haven't confirmed any effects induced by radioactive materials outside the facilities."

The quake struck just under 250 miles northeast of Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was followed by more than a dozen aftershocks, one as strong as 7.1.