Work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to restore electricity and refill spent fuel tanks wore on Monday, with workers briefly evacuated while smoke or steam was observed above two reactors.
A team of water trucks continued to spray water on reactors 3 and 4. The amount sprayed in unit 3 in recent days well exceeds the capacity of its spent-fuel tank.
Other positive developments include the completion of an AC power cable extended to unit 4, according to an IAEA release, and that unit 5 has been switched from a backup generator to external power. Spraying also began Monday at the plant's common spent fuel tank, the IAEA reported.
The ongoing work to fix electrical and other systems at the plant to restore normal cooling to the reactors remains tenuous. Efforts were interrupted and workers evacuated when grey smoke was seen rising from unit 3. Later in the day, white smoke emanated from unit 2, although it died down a couple of hours later and work has resumed.
Radiation levels within the plant have not risen dramatically since a spike recorded March 16 when smoke or steam poured from unit 3. On Monday, Tepco announced that levels of iodine 131 six times the national limit had been observed, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Cesium also was detected.
Outside the plant, Kyodo news reported, IAEA technicians recorded radiation levels of 161 microsievert per hour in the town of Namie, 20 kilometers from the plant.
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