Smoke, steam rising from 2 Japanese reactors

Efforts to restore power systems and cool overheated reactors at Japan's Fukushima I nuclear plant today were interrupted for the second time in the past 24 hours after smoke and steam rose from 2 reactors.

Smoke and steam rises from the reactors on March 22.

The incident at the Fukushima I plant, located 240km north of Tokyo, is the world's most serious nuclear crisis in the last 25 years , caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. which made at least 21,000 people dead or missing.

The technicians working inside an evacuation area around the plant succeeded in placing power cables to all six reactors and began pumping water in one of the kilns to cool down the fuel rods. hot.

But Kyodo news agency reported today, steam seems to have risen from the No. 2 reactor and white smoke discovered above the No. 3 reactor. Earlier, a few steam streams also rose from The reactors experts say may have released a small amount of radioactive substances into the atmosphere.

Tokyo Electric Company (Tepco), which runs the Fukushima I plant, later said that smoke at the No.3 reactor was actually steam and it was considered safe to continue work to control the reactor. application.

Japan's defense minister Toshimi Kitazawa said at a news conference today that he believed steam from reactor No. 2 was due to the discharge of waste water and smoke at the reactor. App 3 is from rubble that burns after the temperature rises.

The amount of radiation is many times higher than the limit allowed to be detected in seawater near nuclear plants. TEPCO said it is investigating.

Yesterday, the Japanese government asked to stop transporting food from four provinces around the Fukushima plant due to fears of increasing radiation in vegetables and tap water.

People living near the factory were also told not to drink tap water due to high levels of iodine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the effects of radiation are more serious than previously anticipated. However, WHO regional spokesman Peter Cordingley said there was no evidence that radioactive food had arrived in other countries.

Even so, China, Taiwan and South Korea have announced plans to tighten inspection of products imported from Japan.