Fresh water injected into troubled Fukushima reactor

The chief Cabinet secretary told a press conference ''a very small amount'' of radioactive substances had leaked from the No. 3 reactor of the plant, dismissing concerns that the radioactivity level would affect human health.
The government and the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., took the measures to deal with a problem that the top of MOX fuel rods was 3 meters above water in the reactor following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit northeastern and eastern Japan on Friday.
Radiation measured 1,024 micro sievert at 8:33 a.m. on the rim of the plant's premises, Edano said. The allowable level in one hour is 500 micro sievert. But the figure went down to 70 an hour later, he said.
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the company acknowledged that the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima plant had lost its cooling functions, while 19 people at a nearby hospital were found to have been exposed to radioactivity, in addition to three cases of exposure recorded Saturday.
It was the sixth reactor overall at the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants to undergo cooling failure since the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck Japan on Friday.
The disaster raised fears of radioactive leaks from the plants after cooling systems there were hampered, most seriously at the No. 1 reactor.
An explosion Saturday at the No. 1 plant blew away the roof and the walls of the building housing the No. 1 reactor's container.
The government and nuclear authorities said there was no damage to the steel container housing the troubled No. 1 reactor, noting that the blast occurred as vapor from the container turned into hydrogen and mixed with outside oxygen.
Tokyo Electric Power has begun new cooling operations to fill the reactor with sea water and pour in boric acid to prevent an occurrence of criticality. Edano said in a press conference Sunday morning that there had been no major changes in the results of radioactivity monitoring near the No. 1 reactor.
Following the explosion, the authorities expanded from 10 kilometers to 20 km the radius of the evacuation area for residents living in the vicinity of the Fukushima plants.
The Fukushima prefectural government said Saturday that three people had their clothes contaminated with radioactive substances while fleeing from the No. 1 nuclear plant.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Sunday that 15 people were found to have been contaminated at a hospital located within 10 km from the No. 1 reactor. Edano said there was a possibility that nine people who fled on a bus had been exposed to radioactivity.