Japanese engineers started pumping seawater into the second reactor of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant severely damaged by last week's devastating earthquake and powerful tsunami, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.
The seawater is being pumped into the reactor's spent nuclear fuel pool, the agency said.
Japanese specialists have also completed pumping seawater into the nuclear power plant's fourth reactor. Overall, about 160 tons of water were pumped to cool the rector, Japanese NHK TV channel reported.
Fukushima was hit by a number of explosions following a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands on March 11. Efforts are still underway to try to cool the overheating nuclear cores in the reactors in a bid to prevent nuclear fallout.
The Japanese government has evacuated all residents within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima plant as well as the workers at the plant and announced a no-fly zone over it to avoid the spread of radiation.
Fears of a large-scale nuclear disaster remain high in Japan as the country continues desperate efforts to contain the looming crisis.
MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti)
