Smoke at Japan nuclear plant, workers evacuated

Workers were temporarily evacuated from part of the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant after a plume of smoke rose from one reactor. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

OSAKA - WHITE smoke was seen rising from the number two reactor at the stricken Fukushima atomic plant on Monday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said, after an earlier plume prompted the evacuation of workers.

An official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said smoke was seen rising from a crack in the roof of the building that houses reactor number 2 at around 6.20pm (0920 GMT, 5.20pm Singapore time).

Earlier on Monday workers were temporarily evacuated from a nearby part of the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant in north-east Japan when smoke rose from reactor three, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said.

But the nuclear safety agency said smoke had stopped rising from that reactor around 20 minutes before it was spotted coming from the number 2 reactor nearby. Engineers at the damaged facility, located 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, are racing to fix disabled cooling systems and bring them on-stream, as fire trucks spray water to help cool reactor fuel-rod pools.

The cooling systems - designed to protect the plant's six reactors from a potentially disastrous meltdown - were knocked out by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's north-east Pacific coast on March 11.

The facility has been hit by a series of explosions and fires and radiation is at dangerous levels at the site which has a 20 kilometre exclusion zone. Those living a further 10 kilometres away have been told to stay indoors. -- AFP