Progress at Japan Reactors - New Signs of Food Radiation - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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Energy Net on 20 Mar 11Two out of the six damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are now under control in a state known as "cold shutdown" after engineers restored emergency water pumps using diesel generators. The reactors, Nos. 5 and 6, had already been shut down before last week's historic earthquake and tsunami, posing less of a risk than the other reactors at the plant. But their cooling systems were knocked out, and the fuel rods left inside the reactor started to heat up, together with spent fuel rods stored in a separate storage pool. "We are getting closer to bringing the situation under control," Tetsuro Fukuyama, the deputy chief cabinet secretary, said of the entire plant late Sunday. The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, had appeared to suffer a serious setback as officials said that pressure buildup at the ravaged No. 3 reactor would require the venting of radioactive gases. The reactor contains a highly toxic fuel that includes reclaimed plutonium. This announcement came after an all-out mission Saturday to cool the reactor by firefighters, who doused the it with 2,400 tons of water over 14 hours.