Japan Battles to Restore Power to Quake-hit Nuke Plant

Efforts to rig power cables to two reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in northeast Japan were suspended Monday evening following the appearance of smoke rising from the reactors' housing buildings.

Owner and operator of the stricken plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), said it pulled out its workers temporarily at around 3:55 p.m. local time as a precautionary measure following the sighting of gray billowing smoke, although the utility noted that no explosion was heard at the No. 3 reactor building.

The smoke had dissipated by 6 p.m. TEPCO said, but twenty minutes later white smoke was seen rising from the damaged No. 2 reactor building.

Investigations revealed that the smoke was in fact steam and was not a sign of further deterioration of the reactor's nuclear fuel pool and radiation levels in the area remained stable, the utility said.

Subsequently, the Tokyo Fire Department suspended their water spraying operation for the day, having begun early on Monday morning along with Japan's Self-Defense Force, in a joint-effort to cool down reactors and overheating spent fuel pools at the troubled plant.

A spokesperson for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that the cause of the smoke and steam from the two reactors was as yet unknown and would delay cooling and power reconnecting operations at the plant by one day.

The No. 2 and No. 5 reactors had been connected to an external power source on Sunday and both TEPCO and the nuclear safety agency confirmed Monday that the utility had finished laying cables to connect to the No. 4 reactor, the first step towards bringing both the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors back online.

But ongoing measures to fix a filtration system responsible for removing radioactive particles from the air at the No. 2 reactor were suspended Monday following the temporary evacuation of workers, TEPCO said.

Japan's nuclear safety agency also said that it may take a few more days before the vital cooling system is restored at the No. 2 reactor, whose containment vessel suffered damage in its pressure- suppression chamber, as multiple component systems must be restored before the reactor becomes fully operation.

The Japanese government plans to dispatch SDF tanks and special trucks to remove radioactive rubble from the vicinity of the reactors to aid workers progress in cooling and power operations.

Two special German-made trucks have also been commissioned to assist the operation and come equipped with a a concrete squeeze pump and a 50-meter arm to pour water from a higher point.

The trucks are similar in design to those used in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear crisis.

Following the plant leaking radiation, radioactive substances have been detected in spinach and other green-leafed vegetables in prefectures surrounding the plant, including Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Fukushima Prefectures.

The Japanese government on Monday issued an order to the four prefectures to halt shipments of certain produce due to the detection of abnormally high levels of radiation, although Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told the public the levels found would be of no harm to humans.

Fukushima Prefecture, home to the faltering Daiichi nuclear facility, was also issued an order to halt all shipments of raw milk, due to traces of radiation being found.

In addition, water samples collected on Sunday showed both radioactive iodine and cesium in supplies in Tochigi and Gunma, while iodine alone was found in Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata and Yamanashi Prefectures, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said on Sunday.

But despite the brewing crisis, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday that "slow but steady progress" is being made in tackling the crisis at the Fukushima plant and told a Cabinet-level emergency disaster headquarters meeting that the reconstruction of quake and tsunami-hit regions in northeastern Japan would soon swing into full gear.

Meanwhile, TEPCO said it will continue with its staggered blackouts in Tokyo and surrounding areas after four days, as work will resume as normal Tuesday following a national holiday and demand will likely outstrip supply, particularly during peak-time which is between 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Early morning power outages previously planned will be avoided due to factories needing extra time to fire up their operations following the long weekend, but the rolling blackouts will affect most of TEPCO's service area either once or twice between 9:20 a.m. and 10 p.m., the utility said.

The National Police Agency reported Monday that the death toll following the March 11 magnitude 9.0 megaquake and ensuing tsunami and those still unaccounted for totaled 21,911 people.

According to the police agency, 8,649 have been reported dead in 12 prefectures and that those missing had risen to 13,262 people in six prefectures.

Around 4,080 bodies have been identified, of which 2,990 have been returned to their families, the police agency said.

The World Bank on Monday estimated that the total cost of the earthquake and tsunami damage to Japan could be in the region of 235 billion U.S. dollars.

On Wednesday Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated the total cost of the disaster to reach just 197 billion U.S. dollars, which alone is 1.6 times the amount of the earthquake that hit Kobe in May 1995.