Officials warned that there was a "high possibility" of meltdown at the ageing facility north of Tokyo, which was rocked by an explosion Saturday following an 8.9-strength tremor that sent 10-metre waves bulldozing inland.

Backup cooling systems failed, leaving the core to glow unchecked and sparking fears that fuel could breach the containment shell, leaking dangerous radiation into the densely-populated region that houses 30 million people.

About 200,000 residents were evacuated from a 20-kilometre radius around the plant, which was built in the 1970s and is one of 54 nuclear plants providing about 30 percent of Japan's power.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) insisted radiation was still within safe levels, but mounting internal pressure meant that some vapour had to be released, and it warned another blast might take place in a second reactor.

Anti-nuclear campaigners said the crisis was a timely reminder of the dangers of atomic energy, particularly in a seismic hotspot like Japan, with Greenpeace describing it as an "inherently hazardous" industry.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Germany over plans to prolong the country's dependency on nuclear power, while Russia ordered a review of its emergency response procedures.

Beijing said it was watching developments closely, having stepped up investment in nuclear power in a bid to slash carbon emissions, with 27 plants being built, 50 in the planning phase and another 110 proposed.

According to the World Nuclear Association there are 443 nuclear reactors operating worldwide, with another 62 under construction, 158 on order and 324 proposed.

Peter Bradford, a former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the disaster was "obviously a significant setback for the so-called nuclear renaissance".

Only the United States and France run more facilities than Japan but significant nuclear momentum is developing in Asia, with countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam planning their first reactors.

China and India both have sizeable future ambitions while South Korea, already reliant on atomic energy for 35 percent of its electricity needs, plans to build 12 new reactors in the next 14 years.

"The image of a nuclear power plant blowing up before your eyes on the television screen is a first," said Bradford.

Mark Hibbs, nuclear expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said it had been "axiomatic that a nuclear accident anywhere in the world would put a halt to further expansion of nuclear power anywhere".

"It would be premature to say that this will nip nuclear power in the bud," Hibbs told AFP.

"Still, it will be very difficult for governments to establish new nuclear programmes in newcomer countries because of the fear of earthquakes. Regardless of whether the concerns are validated by science, the politics of nuclear power new build will become much more difficult."

Opposition to nuclear power runs deep in Japan, the only nation to survive an atomic bomb attack. Its nuclear industry has a chequered history, marred by inspection cover-up scandals and fatal accidents.

Two workers were killed after accidentally setting off a self-sustaining reaction at the Tokaimura uranium processing plant in 1999, exposing more than 600 people to radiation in the world's worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.

Another four were scalded to death at the central Mihama power plant in 2004, while TEPCO, the world's fourth-largest electric utility, was rocked by claims it had falsified dozens of safety inspection reports.

Japanese media were quick to round on Tokyo's response to the Fukushima incident, criticising the government for moving too slowly to direct residents and allay fears of a major nuclear disaster.

But nuclear scientists said facilities had proved incredibly resilient to Friday's tremor, Japan's worst-ever earthquake and one of the 10 largest ever recorded worldwide, adding that the country had few other energy options.

"In the end, you have to ask yourself: do you want to have a zero risk of an accident (at) a nuclear power plant," said Temple University Japan's Robert Dujarric.

"If you do that, you have no nuclear power plant and you have to import more oil from the Middle East, and that's also very dangerous in many ways.

Problems at the Fukushima plant, he said, "(don't) necessarily mean it was wrong to build it. It just means that this was an amazing(ly) strong tremor."

earlier related report
US lawmakers say go slow on nuclear energy
Washington (AFP) March 13, 2011 - The unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan at reactors damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami has led some lawmakers to call for putting the "brakes" on US nuclear development.

"I've been a big supporter of nuclear power because it's domestic -- it's ours and it's clean," Senator Joseph Lieberman told the CBS News television program "Face The Nation" Sunday.

Nevertheless "I think we've got to ... quietly and quickly put the brakes on until we can absorb what has happened in Japan as a result of the earthquake and the tsunami," said Lieberman, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Experts must then "see what more, if anything, we can demand of the new power plants that are coming online."

President Barack Obama wants to increase nuclear power as part of a US effort to decrease the nation's dependence on coal and foreign oil. The administration has allocated $18.5 bn in Department of Energy loan guarantees to spur nuclear development.

The Obama administration "is committed to the re-launching of the nuclear power industry as a key part of moving the country to a clean energy economy," a US official told AFP in December, citing benefits like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating jobs.

US Representative Edward Markey, a nuclear power critic, called for a moratorium on building reactors in seismically active areas on Friday, The New York Times reported.

The disaster in Japan "serves to highlight both the fragility of nuclear power plants and the potential consequences associated with a radiological release caused by earthquake-related damage," Markey said in a statement.

"We must ensure that America's nuclear power plants can withstand a catastrophic event and abide by the absolute highest standards for safety," Markey said.

He sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking details on emergency plans for the US nuclear industry.

Nuclear energy however still has supporters on Capitol Hill.

Senator Charles Schumer told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the unrest in oil-rich Libya is evidence that "we do have to free ourselves of independence from foreign oil."

"Prices are up. Our economy is being hurt by it or could be hurt by it. So I'm still willing to look at nuclear. As I've always said it has to be done safely and carefully," the New York Democrat said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Fox News Sunday program that lawmakers shouldn't make snap judgments.

"I don't think right after a major environmental catastrophe is a very good time to be making American domestic policy," the powerful Republican said.

Friday's collosal 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which sparked an emergency at two of Japan's nuclear power plants and could result in catastrophic meltdowns, has many US nuclear energy advocates thinking twice.

Part of a reactor at Japan's aging Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant blew up Saturday, a day after the biggest quake ever recorded in Japan unleashed a 10-meter (33-foot) tsunami.

Excessive radiation levels were recorded at a second Japanese nuclear facility, Onagawa, on Sunday, although authorities insisted the facility's three reactor units were "under control."

"It is considered to be extremely unlikely but the (nuclear) station blackout has been one of the great concerns for decades," said Ken Bergeron, a physicist who has worked on nuclear reactor accident simulation.

The reactor problems in Japan are "obviously a significant setback for the so-called nuclear renaissance," in the United States, said Peter Bradford, a former NRC member. Both Bergeron and Bradford spoke to reporters on Saturday.

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