Smoke again disrupted efforts yesterday to regain control of a tsunami-stricken Japanese nuclear plant, where engineers were close to restoring a water pump at one of the reactors.
Workers were pulled back after a plume of dark smoke rose from the number three reactor unit.
"Smoke has risen from the number three reactor. As a precautionary measure, workers have been temporarily evacuated," said an official from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
The source of the smoke was not immediately known but no flames were seen and there was no report of a rise in radiation levels.
Engineers have now linked up an external electricity supply to all six reactors and are testing system components and equipment in an effort to restart the cooling systems and measuring instruments.
Power has been partially restored to the control room of the number three unit, which is a particular concern as the core contains a mixture of uranium and volatile plutonium.
"If possible, we want to restore the pump tomorrow (Thursday)" an official from the nuclear safety agency said, speaking before the new smoke scare interrupted work.
There is also concern about the spent fuel pools of the reactors numbers one to four.
The nuclear emergency following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has led 25 embassies to temporarily shut their doors in Tokyo Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said yesterday.
The foreign ministry's press division said the following countries had closed their doors: Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Kosovo, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama and Switzerland.
No comments:
Post a Comment