Akhir 12, 1432 / March 17, 2011, SPA -- Military helicopters dropped water Thursday onto an earthquake- and tsunami-damaged nuclear reactor in north-eastern Japan in danger of melting down as water cannon and firefighting trucks were also dispatched to douse the site, as Reuters reported. The aircraft dumped water four times into the overheated fuel-storage pool of reactor 3 at the power plant in Fukushima, where the cooling systems at its six reactors failed in Friday's disaster. Elevated radiation levels on Wednesday forced authorities to postpone their plans to deploy the helicopters, an operation requested by the plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO). Japanese Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said the radiation level had lowered to 4.13 millisievert per hour at an altitude of 300 metres and 87.7 millisievert at 90 metres. On Tuesday night, measurements of 1,000 millisievert were taken at the plant, the government said - a level that can cause radiation poisoning. US President Barack Obama talked to Prime Minister Naoto Kan Thursday about the ongoing crisis, promising to dispatch more experts to Japan, said Yukio Edano, chief cabinet secretary.
