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New power line may ease meltdown fears at Fukushima plant

A new power line could restore electricity to the Fukushima plant, enabling a steady water supply to be pumped around the reactors to prevent meltdown.

A youngster rests in a school gymnasium being used as a center for people to stay at whose homes were damaged by the tsunami in Ofunato, Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011.
A youngster rests in a school gymnasium being used as a center for people to stay at whose homes were damaged by the tsunami in Ofunato, Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011.
Image: AP Photo/Matt Dunham

THE OPERATOR OF Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear plant says it has almost completed a new power line that could restore electricity to the complex and solve the crisis that has threatened a meltdown.

Tokyo Electric Power Co spokesman Naoki Tsunoda said that the power line to Fukushima Dai-ichi is almost complete. Officials plan to try it “as soon as possible” but he could not say when.

The new line would revive electric-powered pumps, allowing the company to maintain a steady water supply to troubled reactors and spent fuel storage ponds, keeping them cool.

The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami that pulverized Japan’s northeastern coastline.

- AP

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Comments (4 Comments)

  • They are just getting on with. Wish them well …..

    Reply
  • I have been puzzled at the lack of initiative and resourcefulness shown by the power company in this emergency,it is most unlike the Japanese to be caught out.They must have lost some experienced engineers during the earthquake and tsunami. Concern for families may have played a part too but the delay in getting moving is not like them at all

    Reply
    • One wonders how the ESB would have gotten on. I think the Japanese are coping pretty well with Ragnorak.

      Reply
    • The ESB are second to none and they are highly thought of in all the countries that they work in. I do not work for the ESB.
      Also the Japanese are indeed getting on with it as Mike says but not with their usual efficiency. I have worked with Japanese engineers on many occasions and have a high regard for them,ditto for the ESB

      Reply

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