helicopters have managed to dump four loads of sea water over the reactors. and as you said, ed, the big question tonight is, what is really happening at unit four. it is at that unit that the head of the nuclear regulatory commission in the united states says the spent fuel pool is empty. and that is really bad news. because when those fuel rods are exposed, then they can start to melt, and when they start to melt, they will release their fuel inside and they ll release radioactivity. and that is a very, very bad situation. so you see those helicopters going over there. they re trying to get the water there. there s also a report that they are close to hooking up a power line, to restore electricity to the fukushima one plant. and that certainly would be very good news, because it would get those pumps, those electric pumps going again to make sure water is circulating around those reactor coarse and spent fuel pools.
those japanese military helicopters have managed to dump four loads of sea water over the reactors. and as you said, ed, the big question tonight is, what is really happening at unit four. it is at that unit that the head of the nuclear regulatory commission in the united states says the spent fuel pool isรง empty. and that is really bad news. because when those fuel rods are exposed, then they can start to melt, and when they start to melt, they will release their fuel inside and they ll release radioactivity. and that is a very, very bad situation. so you see those helicopters going over there. they re trying to get the water there. there s also a report that they are close to hooking up a power line, to restore electricity to the fukushima one plant. and that certainly would be very good news, because it would get those pumps, those electric pumps going again to make sure
reactors the fukushima one plant. they say they are trying desperately to prevent disaster. the primary concern today is the reactor in unit three, the cooling system in that unit that was working, and then it suddenly stopped yesterday. to relieve the pressure in the reactor, the utility company opened a valve to release some radioactive vapor. that vapor goes into the containment building surrounding the reactor. that vapor contains hydrogen and the fear is if there is another build-up of hydrogen, there will be a repeat of what happened yesterday at the reactor of unit one. that explosion blew off the roof and consumed the walls of the containment building surrounding unit one. officials say the reactor, which is enveloped in steel, is not damaged, but fear reverb rated throughout japan. the government expanded the evacuation zone and began screening evacuees for radiation contamination. nine people were treated for radiation exposure. to try and prevent a meltdown in
first of all, they re dealing with aftershocks and they just had another aftershock in the fukushima area, measuring 6.4 magnitude. there was an aftershock before the explosion happened at the fukushima 1 plant earlier today and then we had that explosion. japanese government officials say the explosion at that plant did not catch the troubled nuclear reactor there known as reactor number one. he says the explosion did contain that building but the reactor itself is intact and the casing around the reactor was not damaged. even though, the japanese government has tended the evacuation area from 6 to 15 miles around the fukushima one plant and from about two miles to six miles around the
fukushima one power plant, sthed it happened in a building, the building fell apart but the the number one reactor which is the reactor that has been giving them great problems, the one that s seeing pressure rise, they say that wasn t damaged. it was protected by its steel envelope and it is okay. that is good news. they also say that the pressure in that reactor has gone down and they say that the radiation in the radiation leak from the plant has not increased because of the explosion. still they have expanded the evacuation area around the f fukushima one plant. there is a two plant within ten miles. the evacuation area has been expanded. we are getting mixed messages from the japanese government exact reply what s going on. anne, is there an independent agency that will be following all of this?