Japan nuclear plant repair progress slow
It is a slow process, but emergency workers are battling to cool and restore power to reactors at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Following three explosions prompted by deteriorating plant conditions following the earthquake/tsunami combo that rocked Japan’s western coastline earlier this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Head (IAEA) was reported saying in Tokyo plant repairs are currently a race against the clock.
He said that electricity is needed to restart pumps to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods and avert a major radiation leak.
The atomic crisis was triggered when the power supply to Fukushima, about 240km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was damaged by the natural disaster and back-up generators failed.
Fukushima Daiichi's operator reportedly said on Friday the utility was not ruling out the option of entombing the plant in concrete as a last resort to prevent a catastrophic radiation leak.
"It is not impossible to encase the reactors in concrete. But our priority right now is to try and cool them down first," an official from the Tokyo Electric Power Co told media, reports Reuters news agency.
Fire engines are being mobilised from as far away as Tokyo in a bid to hose the reactors down, while television pictures showed water jets being turned on the reactors. Helicopters have also been dumping water on the plant.
Officials also say they are also hoping to fix electricity cables from the grid to at least two of the six reactors on Friday. Power may then be restored to reactor 2 as early as Friday night and to reactors 3 and 4 possibly by Sunday, Japanese news agencies reported.
Even if the engineers manage to connect the power, it is not certain that the pumps will work as they may have been damaged in the earthquake or subsequent explosions.
At a press conference, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano insisted radiation levels had not been serious enough to affect human health, although he conceded that there had been some higher readings. He said reactor 3 remained the greatest concern and would be sprayed continuously.
Edano also denied reports that Japan had rejected US offers of help.
Japan has imposed a 20-km (12-mile) exclusion zone around Fukushima and has urged people living up to 30km away to stay indoors. Some countries have advised their nationals in Japan to stay up to 50km away or to leave the country entirely.
Police said more than 450,000 people have been made homeless by the disasters. Some are sleeping on the floors of school halls.
Outside the immediate quake zone, tens of thousands of homes are said to be without electricity and the government estimates more than 1.6m households have no running water.
Aid workers have appealed for more help as supplies of fuel, medicine and other necessities are running short.
In the meantime, more than 16,000 people are confirmed dead or missing after the magnitude 9.0 quake triggered a tsunami.
Japanese police say 6,405 people are known to have died and around 10,200 others are missing.
But Kyodo news agency reports that the official toll is based on names registered with police, and that the true figure could be in the tens of thousands.
Across the country, people observed a minute of silence at 1446 local time (0546GMT) on Friday, exactly a week after the quake.