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All 6 Fukushima reactors reconnected to external power
TOKYO, March 22, Kyodo
All six reactors at the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been reconnected to external power, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday, although smoke detected at the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors the day before had temporarily hampered efforts to restore power and cool down spent nuclear fuel pools.
Tokyo Electric said that it has restored lighting in the control room for the No. 3 reactor, a move that is expected to allow for more intensive work to bring the nuclear crisis under control and to restore the reactors' key cooling functions.
Tokyo Electric Executive Vice President Sakae Muto said, ''I think the situation will head toward a better direction, but it is too early to say that things have stabilized sufficiently.''
The spokesman of the government's nuclear safety agency, Hidehiko Nishiyama, told a separate press conference in the afternoon that if electricity starts to work, the actual condition of the plant would become ''visible'' and authorities would be able to check whether the current measures are sufficient to contain the crisis.
He also gave reassurance that a critical full-scale ''meltdown'' -- in which fuel rods melt completely or reach criticality again -- is unlikely.
While the prospects for an end to the crisis remain uncertain, executives of the utility known as TEPCO apologized in person for the first time since the March 11 quake crippled the nuclear plant to people who had been living near the plant and have now been evacuated.
Although white smoke, possibly steam, was found to be billowing from the buildings of the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors from Monday, TEPCO resumed the work to restore electricity in the morning as it found radiation levels had not surged markedly at the site.
Regaining power supply is needed for the restoration of equipment such as a ventilation system to filter radioactive substances from the air and some measuring tools in the control room, as well as to eventually restore the reactors' key cooling functions that were lost in the quake and ensuing tsunami.
At present, workers cannot remain in the room for long hours due to high radiation levels and power outages.
The number of reactors to which external power has been connected increased from Sunday, with the last being the No. 3 reactor, but workers need to check the condition of each piece of equipment before transmitting power, according to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Efforts to cool down spent fuel pools, which could create the risk of radioactive substances being released if water is not replenished, also resumed in the afternoon and firefighters sprayed a massive amount of water onto the spent nuclear fuel pool at the No. 3 reactor.
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