Japanese Helicopters Begin Water Bombing Fukushima Plant

The military is dropping seawater on the stricken nuclear facility in a desperate attempt to cool temperatures.

Military pilots are working around the clock in 40-minute shifts to prevent a wider nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, whose cooling system was knocked off-line by last week’s earthquake and tsunami. Experts say even a 40-minute exposure to the radiation currently leaking from the plant poses serious health risks. The military will soon begin attempts to replenish the No. 3 reactor’s nuclear storage pool using high-pressure water cannons usually reserved for crowd control. The storage pool is almost empty, risking the exposure of the spent radioactive uranium rods inside. Meanwhile, technicians are working feverishly to connect a new power line to the plant’s generator in a bid to bring the cooling system back online.