Beyond Nuclear

7:20 a.m. EDT, March 13, 2011.

Workers continued efforts to cool down fuel rods inside two nuclear reactors Sunday as a Japanese government official warned that a second explosion could occur at the plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said an explosion could take place in the building housing the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan.

"There is a possibility that the third reactor may have hydrogen gas that is accumulating in the reactor (that) may potentially cause an explosion," he said.

Authorities have also detected cooling system problems at another nuclear facility in Fukushima Prefecture, the Fukushima Daini plant, but have not expressed any concerns about possible meltdowns there. CNN

Update on March 13, 2011 by

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Note that Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") makes the pertinent point in the video clip that if there is cesium in the air a meltdown has occurred. He speculates - as do we - that Japanese authorities are not being fully forthcoming about the gravity of the situation. (We have contacted Bill about his error regarding TMI which he said was brought under control and is still in operation. While TMI Unit 1, which was not affected, is still operational, Unit 2, which melted down, was destroyed and never operated again. The affected units at Fukushima will not be salvagable).