Helicopters drop seawater on stricken reactor in Japan

Fukushima, Japan:  Military helicopters were on Thursday morning dumping seawater on a stricken nuclear reactor in north-eastern Japan to cool overheated fuel rods inside its core.

Japanese news agency NHK broadcast pictures of a helicopter dropping a load of water on Unit 3, one of six reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

A defence ministry spokeswoman said a Japanese military CH-47 Chinook helicopter began dumping seawater on the damaged reactor at 9:48 a.m.

The helicopters took off from Kasumime Air Base in Sendai.

The spokeswoman said the dumping was intended both to help cool the reactor and to replenish water in a pool holding spent fuel rods.

However most of the water appeared to be dispersed in the air.

"We are concentrating on the situation in the cooling pool of reactor number four, but we still haven't come to a firm conclusion about its situation," said Yukio Edano, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary in a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday.


Earlier on Thursday morning, what appeared to be white steam could be seen rising from the power plant.

This helicopter effort comes after a similar mission was aborted at the last minute on Wednesday after it was found that the radiation levels were too high for the helicopters to fly above the plant.

On Thursday, choppers could be seen taking radiation measurements before the decision to dump the sea water was taken.