Aftershocks threatened No. 4 fuel pool
AP
Japan feared three months after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was hit by a tsunami that aftershocks could further damage one of its fuel storage pools, causing the rods inside to melt and spew radiation within hours, according to a newly released document.
The Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization said it carried out a simulation that showed some 1,500 mostly spent fuel rods at the plant's No. 4 reactor building could start breaking up in two hours if aftershocks further damaged the pool and caused cooling water to escape. The fuel rods could start melting within eight hours, the organization said in a report dated June 30 and published Friday.




