Source: Wall St. Journal
Author: Peter Landers
TOKYO—Tokyo Electric Power Co. continued to report progress in restoring order at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, but finishing the job is turning out to be a painstaking process plagued by damaged equipment and unexpected incidents.
Smoke rose from two of the plant's six reactors Monday, forcing workers to retreat temporarily. The cause of the smoke wasn't immediately clear. Radioactivity returned to previous levels after a brief rise, officials said.
"We aren't out of the crisis situation yet, but we are seeing a light at the end," said Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The power company, known as Tepco, has connected four of the plant's six reactors to the outside power grid, and it said Monday that it was closing in on restoring power to the central control room of reactor No. 2. The company has progressed furthest at the No. 5 and No. 6 reactors, both of which are receiving electricity from an external power supply as of Monday and using their standard cooling systems.
But many steps remain before the company can turn on the all-important cooling systems at the other reactors and declare full control over the plant damaged after the March 11 earthquake.
"Because of the earthquake and tsunami and water, there are going to be cases where some devices don't work when they receive electricity," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior official at Japan's nuclear-power regulator. He said workers may need to bring in temporary equipment.
The most troublesome of the six remains No. 3, where grayish smoke was seen Monday afternoon rising around the pools where spent nuclear fuel is stored. The smoke disappeared after a few hours.
Overall, officials expressed confidence that Japan was on the right track in putting a lid on the nuclear disaster triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 21,000 people dead or missing.
The tsunami knocked out regular backup power systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which rendered the plant's cooling systems unusable. Fuel rods in use as well as spent rods in cooling pools began to heat up, triggering fires and explosions.
It took several days for the government to take effective control of the disaster, meaning that the full power of Japan's military and big-city fire departments wasn't engaged in the fight until a week after the quake.
Mr. Kan's aides say he took more direct control of the situation because he was dissatisfied with the information he was getting from Tepco, while Tepco says it has been as forthcoming as it could under the circumstances.
Following the lead of the Tokyo Fire Department's Hyper Rescue Squad, which started Saturday to pour millions of liters on reactor No. 3 using its Super Pumper water-spraying vehicle, regional governments are adding their firepower.
Shigefumi Matsuzawa, governor of the region next to Tokyo that includes Yokohama, said in an interview that Yokohama and another city in his prefecture have dispatched rescue units to the scene. "Those specially designed vehicles are only available in big cities like Kawasaki and Yokohama, so we all need to take turns and pitch in. Osaka probably will be next," Mr. Matsuzawa said.
The Hyper Rescue Squad received a hero's welcome from Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, a longtime hawk who is running for re-election next month. The governor broke down and was nearly in tears as he addressed the squad at a ceremony Monday afternoon.
At a briefing held by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monday, NRC Executive Director for Operations Bill Borchardt said "things appear to be on the verge of stabilizing" at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, but Japanese and U.S. officials continue to monitor the situation closely.
Three units at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant have suffered "some degree of core damage" but remain in stable condition, Mr. Borchardt said Monday.
The ability of Japanese workers to access off-site power for the Fukushima plant is the "first optimstic sign that we've had that things could be turning around," he said.