2nd day of SDF water injection completed
Posted by JAC on 3/18/2011, 7:26 am
Attempts to cool down a spent fuel storage pool at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been conducted on 2 fronts, with more attempts planned.

On Friday afternoon, Self-Defense Force units sprayed water at the plant's No.3 reactor for roughly 40 minutes.
The Defense Ministry says 6 special fire engines went near the reactor building one by one to carry out the operation.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company said separately that its support staff also released water at the reactor, using a fire engine lent by the US military.

Altogether, 50 tons of water has been discharged, and the Defense Ministry says it believes the water has entered the reactor building.

The storage pools at the plant's No.3 and neighboring No.4 reactors have lost their critical cooling functions, raising the risk of a massive radiation leak.

SDF units began dousing the No. 3 reactor from the air and ground on Thursday, as the situation at the reactor was thought to require more urgency.

Speaking to reporters, the chief of staff of the Air Self-Defense Force, Shigeru Iwasaki, said SDF members who engaged in the operations were exposed to no more than several millisieverts of radiation.

He said this level is unlikely to interfere with their activities, but that he will have to hear from experts before deciding whether to continue the cooling efforts.

Later on Friday, elite units from the Tokyo Fire Department are to discharge more water at the plant.

Friday, March 18, 2011 17:10 +0900 (JST)
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