Japan: Emergency declared at nuclear plant

The Fukushima reactor, around 30 miles inland from the coast in north-east Japan, suffered a failure in its cooling system.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, the top government spokesman, said the nuclear power plant developed a mechanical failure in the system needed to cool the reactor after it was shut down.

He said the measure was a precaution as there was was no radiation leak and the facility was not in immediate danger.

Professor Tim Abram, a nuclear fuel technology expert at Manchester University, said that as long as a reactor is shut down, it is considered “benign” until bosses decide it is safe to be turned back on.

He said: “All nuclear facilities are designed to withstand seismic events.

“The magnitude of the seismic event that they are designed to withstand varies from country to country.

“It’s not done on a case of a particular point on the Richter scale, but instead on the basis of probability of earthquakes in particular countries. In somewhere like Japan, the probability will be much, much higher.”

The professor said although a failure in the cooling system of a nuclear power plant was “unexpected”, once a reactor is shut down, the heat levels plummet anyway.

He said: “Reactors shut themselves down automatically when something called ‘ground acceleration’ is registered at a certain point, which is usually quite small.

“It will instantly drop control rods into the core.”

At that stage, he said, the heat of a nuclear station drops dramatically in a matter of seconds, and within a couple of minutes, it is down to under 5% of its normal temperature.

He said: “That’s a tiny, tiny percentage of the usual power output of the core.

“You still need to get rid of the decay heat, but the system is very capable of doing that.

“It’s a bit like a braking system on a car failing when it is travelling at 3mph, when it is designed to slow it down from 120.”

The Queen has sent a message of sympathy to the people of Japan.

Her message came as Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK could send humanitarian assistance and search and rescue teams to help with the aftermath of the quake, which measured 8.9 on the Richter scale and triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific.

Speaking in Whitehall after chairing a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency response committee, Mr Hague said Britain was ready to send whatever help the Japanese authorities say they need over the coming days.

There has so far been no confirmation of any British casualties from the earth tremor or the tsunami waves which it caused, said the Foreign Secretary.

In her message to Japan’s Emperor Akihito, the Queen said: “I was saddened to hear of the tragic loss of life caused by the earthquake which has struck north east Japan today.

“Prince Philip joins me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to your Majesty and the people of Japan. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by the dreadful disaster.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said the earthquake was a “terrible reminder of the destructive power of nature”.

Speaking during a visit to Brussels for an emergency EU summit on the crisis in Libya, Mr Cameron said: “Everyone should be thinking of the country and its people and I have asked immediately that our Government look at what we can do to help.

“The first thing we should be thinking about today is sending our sympathies and our condolences to the Japanese people.”

The quake struck at 2.46pm local time (5.46am GMT) and was followed by at least 12 powerful aftershocks, seven of them of a magnitude of at least 6.3 - the size of the quake which struck New Zealand on February 22. Experts said that the main shock was as much as 8,000 times as powerful as the one which devastated Christchurch.

The initial shock unleashed a huge tsunami that crashed into Japan’s eastern coastline, sweeping boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland.

Television pictures showed walls of water more than 13ft high swamping vast areas of low-lying farmland, with motorists racing to escape the deluge.

In central Tokyo - hundreds of miles away from the quake - large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the streets for safety.

Thousands of people were being evacuated after a state of emergency was declared at the Fukushima nuclear power plant following a failure in its cooling system.

A tsunami alert was issued covering a vast area of the globe, including areas as far apart as New Zealand, Latin American and eastern Russia.

The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10km), about 80 miles (125km) off the eastern coast, Japan’s meteorological agency said. The area is 240 miles (380km) north east of Tokyo.

UK airlines cancelled flights to the Japanese capital following the earthquake.

The Foreign Office set up a crisis centre in London with a helpline on 020 7008 0000 for anyone in the UK concerned about the safety of friends and relatives in Japan. UK nationals in Japan are advised to make contact with the British Embassy in Tokyo on +(81) 3 5211 1100 or the Consulate-General in Osaka on +(81) 6 6120 5600.

Mr Hague said: “The Prime Minister and I have sent our condolences to the people of Japan for the deaths and injuries that have occurred.

“We are in touch with the government of Japan to offer our assistance and we have just been reviewing what assistance we could provide.

“That may take the form of humanitarian assistance, search and rescue teams or victim identification - whatever assistance is required and whatever the Japanese government would like us to send in the coming days.”

Mr Hague said UK officials in Japan were talking to local authorities to establish how badly British nationals had been affected.

Rapid deployment teams were “ready to go” from the UK and within the region to affected areas - including anywhere yet to be hit by the tsunami, he said.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said British rescue teams were on four hours’ notice to fly to the disaster zone.

He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “It is clear Japan has some of the most sophisticated search and rescue people in the world, but if we are asked for any technical or additional support, then of course we will give it.

“The British search and rescue team are on four hours’ notice if that is required.

“More widely we are watching carefully what is happening to this wall of water and tsunami spreading across the Pacific Ocean. As we see the scale of what develops, we will continue to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

“Britain will be engaged in giving any support we can to those affected.”

Mr Mitchell said it was important help was co-ordinated so aid was targeted where it was needed.

Among those affected were members of the BBC’s Philharmonic Orchestra, travelling by coach from Tokyo to a concert in Yokohama.

A spokeswoman said nobody was hurt, and they were communicating with the orchestra via text, and monitoring their updates on Twitter.

The first Tweet said: “Just experienced an earthquake in Tokyo on the way to the venue. We’re currently sitting in traffic on a bridge. Pretty scary stuff.”

A spokeswoman said the orchestra is nearing the end of a 17-day tour in Japan, with the first players due to return on Wednesday.

English language teacher Matthew Holmes, 27, from Nottingham, was at work in Shimokitazawa, west central Tokyo, when the earthquake hit.

He described the sensation as “like many shocks, joined up by a feeling of being on a wave”.

“People were genuinely worried when they told me to get down,” he said.

“We’re only on the second floor, and I thought they were looking after the uninitiated foreigner, but then they really seemed to hit a strange auto-pilot panic.

“I have been in Tokyo for three years but never felt something like that. People in their 50s are telling me that neither have they.”

Brian Baptie, a seismologist from the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, said: “This is a earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale.

“To put that into some sort of context, it’s 8,000 times larger than the one that destroyed Christchurch last month, and on a similar scale to the Chile earthquake in February last year.

“An earthquake of this scale is capable of causing huge damage and destruction, and a tsunami that high will cause complete devastation.”