FUKUSHIMA: Japan scrambled to avert a meltdown at a nuclear plant yesterday after a hydrogen explosion at one reactor and exposure of fuel rods at another, days after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 10,000 people. Roads and rail, power and ports have been crippled across much of Japan’s northeast and estimates of the cost of the disasters have leapt to as much as $170bn. The big fear at the Fukushima nuclear complex, 240km north of Tokyo, is of a major radiation leak. The complex has already seen explosions at two of its reactors. Reuters

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