TOKYO, (Reuters) – Engineers were fighting a fire at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant today as another major aftershock rocked eastern Japan, swaying buildings in central Tokyo and closing Narita airport runways.
Japan is considering raising the severity level of its nuclear crisis to put it on a par with the Chernobyl accident 25 years ago, the worst atomic power disaster in history, Kyodo news agency reported today.
Operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, said on Tuesday that its workers were fighting a fire near damaged reactor No. 4.
It was unclear how serious the fire was.
“Flames and smoke are no longer visible but we are awaiting further details regarding whether the fire has been extinguished completely,” said a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) .
News of the fire came only minutes after a 6.3 aftershock struck off the coast of Chiba, 77 km (48 miles) northwest of Tokyo. Kyodo said Japan’s main international airport Narita closed runways for checks but later resumed flights.
An aftershock measuring 6.6 quake hit Fukushima prefecture on Monday evening temporarily cutting power and forcing workers to evacuate the nuclear plant.
Japan’s Nuclear Industry and Safety Agency (NISA) said the Fukusihima aftershock, which killed one man and knocked out power to 220,000 households, did not damage the nuclear plant.