Cooling systems at the Fukushima plant could be restored
Electricity could be restored soon at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, now that the construction of a new power line is almost complete. Restoring power at the plant would reduce the threat of a meltdown by restoring electricity to the reactor cooling systems. But even with electricity restored, the potential for a meltdown is still very real. High radiation levels have kept workers from preventing rising temperatures, said U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief Gregory Jaczko, and water from the fourth reactor had almost completely evaporated, leaving the exposed fuel rods to get hotter. TEPCO spokesman Hajime Motojuku, however, said conditions at the fourth reactor were stable. The 50 to 70 technicians and workers who are working around the clock to prevent the meltdown have become folk heroes to the Japanese people as they watch the nuclear crisis unfold, the CBC reports.