2011-03-21 11:33

TOKYO - Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) on Monday continued with work to lay cables in an effort to restore power to two reactors that still remain without electricity at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

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The TEPCO was successful in connecting external power sources to power-receiving facilities at the No 2 and No 5 reactors on Sunday.

But Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it may take a few more days before the vital cooling system is restored at the No 2 reactor, whose containment vessel suffered damage in its pressure-suppression chamber, as multiple component systems must be restored before the reactor becomes fully operation.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said even when the plant is online later in the week and cooling functions restored, the plant will be decommissioned in the coming weeks and months.  

Earlier Monday Japanese Self Defense Forces (SDF) and firefighting personnel resumed shooting water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in an effort to cool down reactors and overheating spent fuel pools.

External cooling efforts began at the plant's No 4 reactor on Sunday, and the SDF and firefighting personnel have dumped and sprayed some 3,700 tons of water on the stricken No 3 reactor since Thursday.