Nuclear crisis in Japan sparks concern worldwide (UPDATE)

As Japanese authorities continue to work on getting the nuclear crisis in Japan under control, they have called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to provide the assistance of expert missions.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA said: “Today, the Government of Japan asked the Agency to provide expert missions. We are in discussions with Japan on the details.”

This comes as the Japanese government report that Reactor 2 at Fukushima Daiichi has experienced decreasing coolant levels in the reactor core.

Officials have begun injecting seawater into the reactor to maintain cooling. Seawater being injected in reactors 1 and 3 were interrupted yesterday due to low levels in the seawater supply reservoir, but have now been restored on both units.

Meanwhile the impact of Japan’s nuclear crisis is being felt worldwide. In Switzerland, all approval on new nuclear plants has been suspended until safety measures can be revisited.

40 per cent of Swiss energy is currently generated by nuclear power, and recently voters narrowly approved plans to build a new plant in Muehleberg to replace the old one there.

In Germany, plans to grant operational lifetime extensions to existing nuclear power stations have been suspended.

In Finland they will also review the safety of their nuclear facilities, while anti-nuclear protests have also been held in France and Germany.

In the UK the Secretary for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, has ordered a review into the situation in Japan to see what lessons can be learnt.

He said: “We take this incident extremely seriously even though there is no reason to expect a similar scale of seismic activity in the UK. I have called on the Chief Nuclear Inspector, Dr. Mike Weightman for a thorough report on the implications of the situation in Japan and the lessons to be learned. This will be prepared in close cooperation internationally with other nuclear regulators.

“It is essential that we understand the full facts and their implications, both for existing nuclear reactors and any new programme, as safety is always our number one concern.”