akhir 21, March 26, 2011, SPA -- U.S. naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan's overheated nuclear plant to help workers who scrambled Saturday to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility. Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been pumping seawater in a frantic bid to stabilize reactors overheating since a tsunami knocked out the complex's crucial cooling system March 11. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is rushing to use freshwater instead because of the corrosive potential of the salt in seawater, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency said at a briefing Saturday. The switch was the latest tactic in attempts to regain control of the nuclear power plant near the coast, 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. Low levels of radiation have been seeping from the plant since a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami, forcing residents to evacuate areas within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the plant, according to a report of the Associated Press.
