This reaction was responsible for a small hydrogen explosion accident first observed inside the reactor building of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in 1979 that did not damage the containment building . This same reaction occurred in boiling water reactors 1 , 2 and 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant ( Japan ) after reactor cooling was interrupted by related earthquake and tsunami events during the disaster of March 11 , 2011 , leading to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster . Hydrogen gas was vented into the reactor maintenance halls and the resulting explosive mixture of hydrogen with air oxygen detonated . The explosions severely damaged external buildings and at least one containment building . The reaction also occurred during the Chernobyl Accident , when the steam from the reactor began to escape . Many water cooled reactor containment buildings have catalyst-based recombinator units installed to rapidly convert hydrogen and oxygen into water at room temperature before the explosive limit is reached
earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Zirconium alloy