Kat Hannaford — Its being labelled a precautionary measure, but reportedly the Japanese government has issued a state of emergency plea after a cooling system failure atTohoku Electric Power Cos Onagawa nuclear plant. This comes after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan earlier today.According to an administrator at the plant, the situation was “not going as planned,” but that there wasnt any radioactive leakage or damage at the time.Update: A second nuclear facility, the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, is reporting a quake-related mechanical failure affecting its cooling function. No radiation leaks have been detected at the moment, but CNN reports Japanese officials are “bracing for the worst,” and thousands are being urged to evacuate or stay indoors.Japans shut down the four nuclear plants closest to the quakes epicenter to avoid similar failures.

via Japan Declares Nuclear Emergency as Nuclear Plants Cooling Functions Fail Updated.