Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters earlier that the suppression pool of the number-two reactor at the Fukushima No.1 plant appeared to have been damaged.

The pool forms the base of the container vessel which seals the fuel rods.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) "said it believes the container vessel has not sustained damage such as a hole, judging from the fact that the radiation level has not jumped," a spokesman for the country's nuclear safety agency told AFP.

A huge explosion hit the building housing the number-two reactor early Tuesday, the third blast at the plant since Saturday.

Japan is working desperately to avert a nuclear meltdown after Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami cut power to the ageing plant and knocked out cooling systems.

earlier related report
Japan's TEPCO evacuates staff from nuke reactor
Tokyo (AFP) March 15, 2011 - Workers have been evacuated from the number-two reactor at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant after it was hit by an explosion Tuesday, a Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman said.

"We have moved our staff to a safer area," the TEPCO spokesman said.

An official from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told AFP "that workers near the reactor No.2, excluding those who are pumping water to cool the reactor, have been evacuated."

But the official added: "the evacuation does not mean there are in a crisis."

earlier related report
Japan says blast heard at another nuclear reactor
Tokyo (AFP) March 15, 2011 - A huge explosion hit another reactor at an earthquake-damaged Japanese nuclear power plant early Tuesday, the third blast since Saturday, the plant operator said.

"There was a huge explosion" between 6:00 am (2100 GMT Monday) and 6:15 am at the number-two reactor of Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, a Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) spokesman said.

The government also reported apparent damage to part of the container shielding the same reactor at Fukushima 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, although it was unclear whether this resulted from the blast.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters the suppression pool of the number-two nuclear reactor appeared to have been damaged.

This is the bottom part of the container, which holds water used to cool it down and control air pressure inside.

"But we have not recorded any sudden jump in radiation indicators," Edano added.

Japan is frantically working to avert a nuclear meltdown after Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami cut power to the ageing plant and knocked out cooling systems.

On Saturday an explosion blew apart the building surrounding the plant's number-one reactor but the seal around the reactor itself remained intact, officials said.

On Monday, shortly after Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the plant was still in an "alarming" state, a blast at its number-three reactor shook the facility, injuring 11 people and sending plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

Late Monday TEPCO said fuel rods at the number-two reactor were almost fully exposed after a cooling pump there temporarily failed.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tokyo had asked for expert assistance.

But agency chief Yukiya Amano moved to calm global fears that the situation could escalate to match the world's worst nuclear crisis at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986.

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