Page 16 - Treactor Core News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Currently has 104 plants. be in's tom costello got a very rare, behind the scenes look at one of the nuclear facilities. he has the exclusive story from louisiana. >> reporter: hi, tamron. that's the reactor core right behind me in that containment building. to demystify nuclear power and emphasize how safe it is in the view of the industry, we were given tremendous access here. we saw the control room. also the cement casing around the nuclear core. we saw the pool that holds the radioactive spent fuel rods. the nuclear plant single-handedly cranks out 10% of louisiana's power. getting inside...

Cannons from fire trucks. it seems like perhaps a stop-gap measure. is that effective? will it get them where they need to go where they can actually go in and take more permanent measures? >> it should. the fire in unit three is so troubling because that's the one that received couple thousand tons of water. and so how can a fire start after that? and so i think waiting for why this fire happened, but it just shows that water isn't the only solution. and people are starting to talk about other solutions, including entombment of unit three. >> is that a realistic -- i heard that, too, basicall...

So based on these facts, we raised the international nuclear event scale to five. >> well, officials say the level five rating only applies to the damaged reactors two and three. that means a likelihood of a limited amount of radioactive material and severe damage to the reactor core. an assessment that is now more in line with what the united states had two days ago, they decided not to expand the tw 12-mile evacuation zone. inside the damaged reactor building, workers spent the day trying to restore electricity. now at reactor four, the nuclear agency rates that a level three. in other words...

Damaged reactors two and three. that means a likelihood of a limited release of radioactive material, possible deaths from radiation and severe damage to the reactor core. despite the reassessment, though an assessment that is now more in line with what the united states had two days ago, they decided not to expand the 12-mile evacuation zone. u.s. officials advised americans to evacuate 50 miles. tons of water was sprayed on reactor three on friday in an attempt to refill the storage pool. inside the damaged reactor building, workers spent the day trying to restore electricity. now at reactor...

>> finally acknowledging what the rest of the world already knew. >> japanese officials as we've been reporting admit they could have moved more quickly to address the nuclear crisis. >> the nuclear crisis increased to level five, just two levels below chernobyl. >> it is unnerving we don't know if the reactor core is stable and not subject to explosion. >> and radiation reaches the west coast but at levels that are not dangerous. >> do not rush out, buy iodine. don't buy radiation detectors. better, donate that money to earthquake relief in japan. good evening from new york. at this hour, t...