Accessibility links

Breaking News

Japan Continues Efforts to Cool Quake-Damaged Reactors at Nuclear Plant

Mother and daughter receive radiation exposure scanning in Fukushima, northern Japan Friday, one week after a massive earthquake and tsunami, March 18, 2011

Japan is continuing its frantic effort to cool damaged reactors and exposed fuel rods at the crippled coastal nuclear power plant damaged by the tsunami following the magnitude nine earthquake a week ago.

For a second consecutive day, firefighters entered the crippled nuclear power plant here in Fukushima prefecture (state). They sprayed water on damaged reactor buildings, making what is considered a risky attempt to cool highly radioactive fuel rods.

Powerful hoses were used to shoot 50 tons of water directly on them but the firefighters have to keep their distance and limit the time they can be inside the complex because of the radiation. But the military appears to have given up trying to repeat Thursday's water drops, by helicopter, on the damaged reactor buildings.

Meanwhile, utility workers are extending an emergency power cable to the 40-year-old complex. That would allow a steady supply of electricity to run water pumps. But government officials say it could be Sunday before cooling units can be re-started at the number two and three reactors.

Since the earthquake and tsunami a week ago, fires, explosions and partial melting of cores have been experienced at four of the six reactors at the Fukushima-1 plant.

Officials say the number three reactor remains the priority. Mixed oxide (MOX) fuel rods, partly composed of especially toxic plutonium are partially exposed. Without water they will continue to heat and potentially spew radiation beyond the coastal facility.

The chief secretary of Japan's cabinet, Yukio Edano, is trying to calm fears about the radiation.

He says although elevated levels of radiation are being detected kilometers away from the crippled plant, they do not pose a risk to human health.

People as far away as Tokyo are not reassured. Families have decided to head to Osaka or farther south and west. Many flights to surrounding countries are reported full with those desiring to leave the country amid news reports of the possibility of meltdowns. Some foreigners say they are also worried because food and other items in markets quickly vanished from shelves.

A number of foreign governments, including the United States, are making chartered aircraft available from the capital for their nationals desiring to flee the country.

Some Japanese observers call the radiation fears by those in Tokyo an over-reaction, noting those returning home overseas would be exposed to higher levels during the high-altitude flights than if they stayed put.