Despite the huge efforts of Japanese officials to contain a widening nuclear crisis in the aftermath of Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, the consequences for the population and the matter of nuclear power plants insecurity is evident. Experts in Japan and the United States say the country is now facing a flow of accumulating problems that advocate that radioactive releases of vapor from the plants could go on for weeks or even months.

The current state of emergency appeared to be the worst involving a nuclear plant since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago. The developments at two separate nuclear plants already prompted the evacuation of more than 200,000 Japanese but the authorities admit that hundreds of people were exposed. Today, an explosion happen on the roof of the second reactor, not damaging the core, it was said, but apparently seeping out more radiation.

The wave of fear and hostility in relation to nuclear plants is now spreading all over the world, and on Saturday 60,000 people took to the streets in Germany to show their discontentment in relation to existing European plants and calling for a series of nuclear 'stress tests' to ensure their safety. Nuclear experts from European Union member states are now supposed to meet in Brussels this week to debate the consequences caused to Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant and the potential effects for Europe. EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger, known to be a supporter of nuclear energy, will gather with national nuclear safety authorities, nuclear power plant vendors and operators early this week: "to jointly assess the consequences of the accident as well as the lessons that can be drawn from the events in Japan."

The partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors and they say that they were facing serious cooling problems on at least three more. Experts said the explosion was due to the build-up of nitrogen gas in the reactor's protective casing, a similar cause to Saturday's initial explosion.

"No reactor in the world is prepared for the case of a meltdown," Green Party MP and former environment minister Juergen Trittin declared on television. MP statement didn’t give tranquility to populations as the climate change consequences are being pointed as a serious factor to take into account. The former minister had been involved in negotiations about energy utilities during the last years to build a plan of phasing out of nuclear power, but the arrangement was afterwards dismantled by Merkel's government.

On the contrary, Austrian government said yesterday to be in favour of carrying out 'stress tests' on Europe's nuclear power plants, similar to the examinations being carried out on the region's banks after the financial crisis.

In Finland, Paavo Arhinmaki, leader of the opposition Left Alliance, told a party conference that no further nuclear reactors should be built in Finland, citing events in Japan where a massive clean-up operation is currently underway.

The official death-toll after Friday's 9 magnitude earthquake is around 1,500 people, but only in the north-eastern Miyagi district, authorities estimated that at least 10,000 people had been killed mostly by drowning.

EU leaders on Friday asked high representative Catherine Ashton to "mobilise all appropriate assistance" for Japan, whose prime minister, Naoto Kan, has said his country is facing "the most severe crisis since World War II".