Power lines may resume cooling reactors

FUKUSHIMA, Japan -- Workers at a leaking nuclear plant hooked up power lines to all six of the crippled complex's reactor units yesterday, but other repercussions from the massive earthquake and tsunami were still rippling across the nation as economic losses mounted at three of Japan's flagship companies.

The progress on the electrical lines at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was a welcome and significant advance after days of setbacks. With the power lines connected, officials hope to start up the overheated plant's crucial cooling system that was knocked out during the March 11 tsunami and earthquake that devastated Japan's northeast coast.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. warned that workers still need to check all equipment for damage first before switching the cooling system on to all the reactor units -- a process that could take days or even weeks.

Late last night, Tokyo Electric said lights went on in the central control room of Unit 3, but that doesn't mean power had been restored to the cooling system. Officials will wait until sometime today to try to power up the water pumps to the unit.

Emergency crews also dumped 18 tons of sea water into a nearly boiling storage pool holding spent nuclear fuel, cooling it to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, Japan's nuclear safety agency said.

Its power supply knocked out by the disasters, the Fukushima complex has leaked radiation that has found its way into vegetables, raw milk, the water supply and even sea water. Early today, the government added broccoli to the list of tainted vegetables, which also include spinach, canola and chrysanthemum greens. Government officials and health experts say the doses are low and not a threat to human health unless the tainted products are consumed in abnormally excessive quantities.

Three of the country's biggest brands -- Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. -- put off a return to normal production because of shortages of parts and raw materials from earthquake-damaged factories in affected areas.

Toyota and Honda said they would extend a shutdown of auto production in Japan that already is in its second week, while Sony said it was suspending some manufacturing of popular consumer electronics, such as digital cameras and TVs. The National Police Agency said the overall number of bodies collected so far stood at 9,099, while 13,786 people have been listed as missing.