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The reactor is NOT about to explode. This is not Chernobyl people, its nothing even close to the same situation. Totally different technology, design standards, and practices in place.
Remember the Chernobyl incident occurred after overt and negligent human actions with the reactor (trying to test its safety system by powering it down and then kick starting it before generators could come online, causing a surge). That situation was asking for trouble, especially in a soft-containment structure like they had at the plant (there was no concrete containment dome, and there was no multiple internal containment structures, the core was exposed after ONE explosion).
The Japanese plant is a light water reactor, with multiple levels of containment. Even if its totally melted down, its final containment layer will keep radioactive elements inside of it. It might irradiate the immediate area of the plant, but there is no risk of a giant explosion that will spread nuclear fuel into the atmosphere.
The explosions we are seeing now are hydrogen gas explosions, which are fairly inevitable (at least until the plant roofs are blown off). The gas builds up till it reaches a level that can ignite and it blows off the roof of the reactor buildings. There is still multiple levels of containment vessels between the reactor core and the outside world.
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