Japan reactor vessels remain intact: U.N. atom chief

By Fredrik Dahl and Michael Shields

VIENNA | Mon Mar 14, 2011 12:47pm EDT

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Japan's massive earthquake and tsunami had shaken and flooded nuclear power plants but their reactor vessels remained intact and radiation release was limited.

Yukiya Amano spoke as Japan scrambled to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant Monday after a hydrogen explosion at one reactor and exposure of fuel rods at another, just days after the devastation that killed thousands.

"The Japanese authorities are working as hard as they can, under extremely difficult circumstances, to stabilize the nuclear power plants and ensure safety," Amano said in a statement to member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

"The nuclear plants have been shaken, flooded and cut off from electricity. Operators have suffered personal tragedies," he said, according to a copy of his remarks. But "the reactor vessels have held and radioactive release is limited."