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Morning Update

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From NEI’s Japan Earthquake launch page

UPDATE AS OF 9:30 A.M. EDT, MARCH 22:
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has reconnected external power supply at Fukushima Daiichi reactors 1, 2, 5 and 6. Offsite electricity is providing power to cooling pumps for the used fuel pools at reactors 5 and 6. Components and circuits at reactors 1 and 2 are being checked before power is restored to them. The company on Tuesday was installing cable at reactor 4 and power is expected to be restored at reactors 3 and 4 on Wednesday (Japan time).

TEPCO said the radiation level at the main gate at Fukushima Daiichi has declined from 33 millirem per hour to 25 millirem per hour.

Fire departments on Tuesday continued to pump water into the used fuel pools at reactors 3 and 4. Seawater is being pumped through a manually laid hose and sent to a water truck for continual spraying. Firefighters have sprayed a total of 3,600 tons of seawater, or about three times the pool's capacity, in recent days.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Ukiyo Edano, reported the detection of low levels of iodine 131 and cesium 137 in seawater near the plant. There is no threat to human health, officials said.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has ordered the governors of four prefectures (Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma and Tochigi) to suspend shipments of spinach and milk from specified areas. However, Kan said the levels of airborne radiation in those areas pose no risk to human health.

The Fukushima Daini reactors remain in safe condition today.

UPDATE AS OF 8:00 P.M. EDT, MONDAY, MARCH 21:

NEI has added a new graphic to its website: Emergency Preparedness: Protecting the Public and Environment.

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