Afternoon Report

From NEI’s Japan earthquake launch page:

UPDATE AS OF 1:30 P.M., MARCH 25:

Workers have switched from sea water to fresh water to cool reactor 1 and were expected to make the same change for reactors 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by Saturday. Pressure and temperature inside reactor 1 were declining on Friday.

Lighting has been restored in the control rooms of reactors 1 through 4 at the plant, which lost electric power after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum said. With offsite electric service connected to all the units, workers are attempting to connect plant safety equipment. Some pumps and other equipment that were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami must be repaired or replaced.

Water spraying to maintain cooling of used uranium fuel rods in the reactor 3 used fuel storage pool was suspended because of high radiation levels near that building, but spraying into the reactor 1 and 4 storage pools continued.

Reactors 5 and 6 are safely shutdown and are being cooled with pumps using offsite electricity.

Radiation dose rates at the Fukushima Daiichi site boundary continue to range from 1 millirem to 3 millirem per hour.