Work ongoing at Japanese reactor, power restoration and stabilisation efforts resume

Work was interrupted for the second time in 24 hours yesterday after steam and smoke was emitted from two of the reactors. Radiation levels spiked briefly, and engineers were told to evacuate the plant.

The work to restore power to the reactors restarted shortly after dawn.

Although power cables are reported to have been reattached to the various reactors, the authorities say they are still not in a position to get enough power to them to restart cooling systems and monitoring equipment.

Workers at the plant have been battling to cool reactors and spent fuel ponds to avoid a large-scale release of radiation, after the plant was crippled by fire and explosions following the 11 March quake and tsunami.

Meanwhile, the official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has risen to more than 9,000, with 12,645 missing.

More than 350,000 people are still living in evacuation centres in northern and eastern Japan, many of them short of food and water.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a new government committee would meet regularly to co-ordinate with social agencies and ensure the evacuees were getting the support they need.

Some aid from foreign countries has started to arrive, and the government has started the process of finding temporary housing in other parts of the country for those made homeless.

Workers in north-east Japan have begun building temporary homes for the displaced. The prefabricated metal boxes with wooden floors were put up on the hillside near the devastated town of Rikuzentakata.

The government has also relaxed stockpiling rules on fuel wholesalers in a bid to get more fuel to the affected areas.

Power rationing has resumed across Japan because of shortages caused by the nuclear shutdown.

On Monday, the government ordered a halt to some food shipments from four prefectures around the Fukushima nuclear plant, as concern increases about radioactive traces in vegetables and water supplies.

Villagers living near the plant have been told not to drink tap water because of higher levels of radioactive iodine.

The suspension - which the government said was just a precaution - applies to spinach from the prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma, as well as milk from Fukushima.

Tepco will have to compensate farmers for losses caused by the nuclear radiation leaking from its power plants, the Japan authorities have said.

The firm will have to take responsibility, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano at a press conference.

The World Health Organization said it had no evidence of contaminated food reaching other countries. However, China, Taiwan and South Korea have announced plans to toughen checks of Japanese imports.