Japan choppers dump water on stricken N-plant

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A young evacuee looks on at an evacuation centre in Kawamata, Fukushima prefecture, Northern Japan

Japanese military helicopters dumped water on Thursday onto the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant Northeast of Tokyo in a bid to douse fuel rods and prevent a disastrous radiation release.

Four twin-rotor CH-47 Chinooks of the self-defence forces ran the first mission to empty large buckets that hold more than seven tonnes of water each onto the facility damaged by Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.

The operation aims to keep the fuel rods inside reactors and containment pools submerged under water, to stop them from degrading when they are exposed to air and emitting dangerous radioactive material.

The helicopter mission started in the morning under a clear sky after a similar effort the previous day was called off shortly before darkness fell by officials citing strong radiation and high winds.

Police water cannon were also set to support the effort on Thursday in addition to equipment already in use over recent days at the plant, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) Northeast of the Japanese capital.

Defence minister Toshimi Kitazawa said an additional 11 military vehicles would be deployed for efforts to help cool the reactors, while pumps supplied by the US armed forces were also being transferred.

The government's nuclear safety agency has said the top priority should be pouring water into the fuel-rod pools at reactors three and four, which may be boiling and are not fully covered by roofs that would reduce radiation leaks.

An official at plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Thursday the pool at the number-four reactor "seemed to have water" on Wednesday, based on aerial observation carried out by the military helicopters.

Another TEPCO spokesman said: "We have not confirmed how much water was left inside but we have not had information that spent fuel rods are exposed."

TEPCO said earlier it was concentrating on restoring the power supply to reactivate its crippled cooling systems, which were knocked out in the dual calamity that hit Japan.

"We cannot tell when, but we want to restore the power source as soon as possible," TEPCO spokesman Naohiro Omura told AFP.

TEPCO was preparing to restore outside power lines from Tohoku Electric Power Co., which serves the region, and connect its damaged electric transmission system with unaffected lines.

"At the moment, we are concentrating our efforts on this work," he said.

"If the restoration work is completed, we will be able to activate various electric pumps and pour water into reactors and pools for spent nuclear fuel."

The 9.0-magnitude quake, the biggest on record to strike Japan, knocked down electricity pylons which Tohoku had used to supply power to the TEPCO plant.

Some 70 workers have been using pumps to pour seawater to cool reactors at the plant, according to media reports, using electricity from borrowed mobile generators.