TOKYO (BNO NEWS) — The Tokyo Electronic Power Co. (TEPCO) on Tuesday said that all six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been reconnected to external power.
On Monday, smoke had been detected at the plant’s No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, temporarily hampering efforts to restore power and cool down spent nuclear fuel pools, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. Despite Tuesday’s positive news, however, TEPCO Vice President Sakae Muto said it is too early to say things have stabilized sufficiently.
Meanwhile, Japan’s nuclear agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said that if electricity begins to work, the plant’s actual condition could be monitored, verifying how effective the current measures being carried out to contain the nuclear crisis are.
Nishiyama also stated that a nuclear meltdown is now very unlikely.
Regaining electrical power means TEPCO will be able to restore its ventilation system to filter radioactive substances from the air, its measuring tools in the control room, and eventually, the reactors’ key cooling functions that were lost in the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said firefighters continued to try to cool down the spent fuel pools with water at the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors.
It has been over one week since the powerful March 11 earthquake struck Japan, causing thousands of deaths and a dramatic nuclear reactor crisis. The 9.0 quake caused power outages at the plant and subsequently, its cooling functions at the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 reactors.
As a result, the reactors’ cores are believed to have partially melted. The pools storing spent nuclear fuel outside the reactors at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 units have all lost their cooling functions, requiring water to be pumped in, while hydrogen explosions have blown off the roofs and upper walls of the buildings housing the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 units.
Furthermore, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission chief said it must review safety regulations, admitting that its preparations to prevent nuclear accidents were based on optimistic projections.
In addition, TEPCO, which formally apologized for the first time since the nuclear crisis began, confirmed that pollution has been spreading out to seawater near the plant, although it says it does not pose immediate threat to health.
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