Weariness and anxiety percolated Tuesday, March 22, among people who left their homes near Japan's radiation-shedding nuclear complex as workers tried urgently to cool an overheated storage pool and methodically to reconnect critical cooling systems.
In another day of progress and setbacks, a pool holding spent nuclear fuel heated up to around the boiling point, a nuclear safety official said. With water bubbling away, there is a risk that more radioactive steam could spew out. "We cannot leave this alone and we must take care of it as quickly as possible," said the official, Hidehiko Nishiyama.
It wasn't clear if crews had to retreat to stop work hooking up electrical systems and checking machinery to power up cooling systems, The Associated press reports.
IAEA monitoring stations have detected radiation 1,600 times higher than normal levels — but in an area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the power station, the limit of the evacuation area declared by the government last week.
