Fukushima Situation Remains Critical But Fairly Stable

It has been confirmed by the IAEA the level of nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi has been raised to 5. There are seven points on the scale. The disaster at Chernobyl in 1986 was at 7 on the scale. Three Mile Island, America's worst commercial nuclear accident in 1979 was at 5 on the scale.

There is more detail about why the IAEA raised the nuclear alert level for Japan. A spokesman said it was done because of the condition of reactors 1, 2, and 3 at the plant. "The cooling function was lost and the reactor cores were damaged. Radioactive particles continue to be released in the environment," he is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

More on the cooling operation from a live press conference with Japan's chief cabinet secretary. "We observed vapour after water was deposited in [reactor 3] so we believe that water did reach the pool for sure," Yukio Edano says.

Around 50 tonnes of water were sprayed in about 40 minutes onto the storage pool at the reactor in Fukushima on the second day of the operation.

News just in: Electricity could be restored on Saturday morning at the Reactor 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power says, according to the Reuters news agency.

BBC