Blast-hit Japanese reactors cooled, radiation levels down

Units One, Two and Three of Japan’s troubled Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant are being cooled and radiation levels do not currently pose a health threat, a top official said.

“At the moment, reactors are being successfully cooled,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, adding that units Five and Six, where temperatures have been rising since Tuesday, are also being cooled.

“The health ministry started monitoring radiation levels within the 20-30 km radius. Radiation levels pose no threat to a person outside,” he said.

Tokyo Electric Company (TEPCO), which operates the troubled Japanese plant, said it would use firefighting vehicles to cool the reactors, and bulldozers were called in to clear path.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan last Friday, followed by a series of aftershocks. The quake knocked out cooling systems of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, and blasts occurred in units One and Three on Monday, and in unit Two on Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday, the Japanese government reported that a fire broke out in unit Four, and temperatures have been rising in units Five and Six.

MOSCOW, March 16 (RIA Novosti)

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