By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Work to restore main cooling and power functions at Japan’s quake-hit Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant resumed Thursday.
The efforts were hindered the previous day by a black smoke rising from the plant’s reactor 3, Kyodo news agency reported.
Though the cause of the rising black smoke, which stopped by itself at 4.50 a.m. local time Thursday, remains unknown, no fire was seen and no climb in radiation levels was registered.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., already managed to restore electricity in the control room of the reactor No. 1. All six reactors were reconnected to the external power as of Tuesday night.
The electricity supply will run an automated cooling system in the damaged reactors and pools containing spent nuclear fuel.
A powerful magnitude-9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan March 11 triggered a number of explosions at Fukushima nuclear plant, spreading fears of massive radioactive contamination.
According to the police, the confirmed toll in the earthquake and tsunami disasters stood at 9,700, and 16,501 more people were reported missing.