The reactors inner containment vessel holding nuclear rods was intact, Edano said, allaying some fears of the risk to the environment and public. TV footage of the building housing the reactor appeared to show similar damage to Mondays blast, with outer walls shorn off, leaving only a skeletal frame.
More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area in recent days, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.
Earlier Monday, pressure had jumped inside Unit 3, forcing the evacuation of 21 workers. But they returned to work after levels appeared to ease.
Associated Press journalists felt the explosion in the tsunami-devastated port town of Soma, some 25 miles north of the reactor. They reported feeling the faint rumble of a blast and the ground shaking.
Four nuclear plants in northeastern Japan have reported damage, but the danger was greatest at Fukushimas Dai-ichi plant. Operators have lost the ability to cool three reactors at Dai-ichi and three more at another nearby complex using usual procedures, after the quake knocked out power and the tsunami swamped backup generators.
Operators have been dumping seawater into units 1 and 3 in a last-ditch measure to cool the reactors. They were getting water into the other four reactors with cooling problems without resorting to corrosive sea water, which likely makes the reactors unusable.
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