Japanese authorities continued little more success attempts to cool the nuclear power plant in Fukushima& Decrease Nuclear Crisis.

Fukushima Nuclear Plant reactor number 1 Daiichi facility is seen in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan

Japanese authorities continued Thursday with little more success than the day before, their attempts to cool the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, under the eye of more and more worried about the international community deal with the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami Friday. Read Article

Military helicopters dropped about 30 tons of water on the only reactor 3, described as "priority" by the operator of the plant, TEPCO, because it is the only one to use plutonium more dangerous to human health that uranium.

A first attempt failed Wednesday due to high radioactivity above the reactor, including the roof and cooling system were damaged by an explosion.

Thursday, two of the four drops seem to have achieved their aim and these operations will continue on Friday, said the Japanese agency for nuclear safety.

Bulldozers have also tried to clear a path for tankers to enable them to sprinkle the site.

A team had to temporarily suspend operations at gun irrigation water due to high radioactivity, reported public broadcaster NHK. Another team then took over.

Engineers are trying to restore power in the central cut since the earthquake and tsunami, to run the pumps to cool the reactors 3 and 4 and their storage pools of spent fuel.

ELECTRICITY RESTORED Friday?

TEPCO believes that electricity will be restored Friday to earlier in this central located 240 km north of Tokyo and damaged by a series of explosions.

The declining level of water in these cooling pools is the main concern now because, if they are not sufficiently disposed of the spent fuel rods cause radioactive releases into the atmosphere.

The fuel in the reactors is however supposed to be protected by containment.

Jaczo Gregory, president of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRC) said Wednesday that the reactor pool 4 could be dry and that the reactor 3 was leaking.

The Japanese Nuclear Safety Agency was not able to tell if water is still covering the spent fuel rods.

The reactor pool 4 remains a source of "grave concern," she said.

In Central, employees dressed in protective suits are trying to monitor the evolving situation. They perform short-term missions to minimize their exposure to radiation.

The international community, with the United States at the forefront, expresses its concern at the situation while not openly criticize the Japanese government, which some felt overwhelmed.

According to Thierry Charles, director of the Safety Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), radioactive releases in Japan represent about one-tenth of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HOMELESS

Many countries have advised their nationals to leave the area at risk and some, like France, facilitate departures from Japan.

In Tokyo, many residents remain cloistered at home and build up reserves of food.

The radioactivity in the Japanese capital did not exceed 0.809 mSv / hr, this week, ten times less than what a patient experienced during a dental radiography.

The government warned Thursday against a risk of extensive power outage in Tokyo. This threat was eventually discarded because electricity consumption has not increased.

Fears of a nuclear catastrophe should not overshadow the public health emergency in which there are the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in the north, observers point out.

Hundreds of thousands remain homeless and their situation has worsened with the cold and snow that hit the areas hardest hit by the double disaster.

The reserves of water and oil are low in some centers, where the survivors wait patiently under blankets.

About 850,000 households are still without power in northern Iraq while winter temperatures are 1.5 million homes and have no running water.

"It's cold today, and many people fall ill, suffer from diarrhea and other symptoms," said Takanori Watanabe, a doctor from the Red Cross Otsuchi, a coastal city with more than half of the 17,000 inhabitants are missing.

The toll of the earthquake of March 11 was increased to 4314 dead and 8606 missing.

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 will meet via teleconference on Thursday evening to discuss the situation in Japan after the earthquake.

At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index ended down 1.44% Thursday.

Marine Pennetier and Bertrand Boucey for the French service