Nuclear power in Japan

Flames and billows of black smoke poured from the Kashiwazaki nuclear power plant, which automatically shut down during the quake. The fire, in an electrical transformer, was put out about two hours later and there was no release of radioactivity or damage to the reactors according to the very first declarations of TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), the utility company which operates the nuclear power plant.

But later on officials of TEPCO declared that about 1,2 cubic metre of water leaked out in the building housing one of the reactors. They said the water contained a tiny amount of radioactive material — a billionth of the guideline under Japanese law — and is believed to have flushed into the Sea of Japan. A company statement said the leak had stopped and that there had been no "significant change" in the seawater under surveillance and no effect on the environment. Furthermore about 100 containers with low radioactive waste fell on the ground, with some of them damaged.

It shows once again that nuclear power is a very dangerous and unsafe energy technology which represents a major threat not only because of potential human errors or terrorist attacks but also due to natural disasters like earthquakes or floods!