Japan Makes Progress at Troubled Nuclear Plant

Officials Regain Some Control, But Too Early to Say Problems Over; Reactors 5, 6 Heat Up

By YUKA HAYASHI
MARCH 15, 2011, 8:16 A.M. ET
WSJ

TOKYO—Japanese officials appeared to have regained some control of northeast Japan's troubled nuclear power plant Tuesday afternoon, at least for now, after spikes in radiation levels that followed a new explosion at one reactor and a fire at another earlier in the day put the nation on high alert.

Officials stressed it was too early to say the worst has been averted at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which has suffered serious problems in four of its six reactors since Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. Determining the cause of the earlier radiation leaks and checking what's happening inside the overheating reactors was difficult.

Authorities also signaled a new area of potential worry: temperature at the remaining two reactors, both not operating at the time of the earthquake and so far not the subject of concern, has risen slightly, prompting the need for close monitoring. Officials were also probing a report that boiling water had been spotted near where the fire broke out Tuesday morning, another potential worrying sign.

(Original here.)