Success! NHK Confirms that Water Pumping Has Been Restarted

There is no article. Just a news flash at the top of NHK news site. NHK has confirmed that the water pumping has been successfully restarted:


CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

The blue text at the bottom says, "Fukushima #1 Nuclear Plant #3 Reactor: Japan Self-Defense Force (SDF) has restarted water pumps (at 2:03 pm)"


This is great news as the pumping was temporarily ceased yesterday and replaced with water dumped by helicopters. Some feared that that wasn't enough and could have caused the reactors to overheat so having water pumped in from the ground and fired from water cannon again is good news.


As I write this news flash, NHK confirms that the water was being pumped from water cannon and water was pumped from a "pump car" borrowed from the US military: (English translation below)

自衛隊“水は届いたと思う”

航空自衛隊トップの岩崎茂航空幕僚長は、記者会見で、福島第一原子力発電所で１８日午後に行われた放水作業について、「活動は終了した。映像を見るかぎり水は本体に届いていると思う」と述べました。
１８日午後行われた会見の中で、岩崎航空幕僚長は、福島第一原子力発電所の３号機へ向けて午後行われた自衛隊の消防車による放水活動について、「自衛隊の消防車６台と東京電力がアメリカ軍から借りたポンプ車１台で、きょう午後２時前から放水活動を行い、終了した。映像を見るかぎり水は本体に届いていると考えている。５０トンの水を放水する計画だったが、放水量についてはまだ報告がきていない」と述べました。
さらに作業に当たる隊員の安全確保については、「これまでのところ隊員が浴びた放射線量は最大でも数ミリシーベルト以下で、活動には支障がないと思っている。あす以降も放水活動をするかどうかは専門家の判断を待ちたい。今後もすべての力を使って原子力災害派遣の活動に取り組んでいく」と述べました。

Translation: Japan Air Self Defense Force chief of staff, Shigeru Iwasaki, said at a press conference held on the evening of March 18, 2011 that flood control workers in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, "Had finished working for the day and judging from a video of their efforts that the efforts (to cool the reactors by firing water by water pump and water cannon) reached their intended targets."

In the afternoon of March 18, another meeting was held, and Iwasaki said that the control efforts of the Self Defense Force (SDF) at the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, consisted of, "Six fire engines of the SDF and a water pump truck borrowed from the U.S. military. TEPCO conducted the emergency activities before terminating them at 2 pm today." Judging from the video Iwasaki claimed that he believed the water had reached its intended destination. He added that 50 tons of water was discharged. He didn't confirm how much water was planned for the exercise. He added that 

the safety of the personnel working was considered and that radiation levels were low enough to not pose a danger to humans. He added that more work is to be done tomorrow and beyond and he is now considering further actions and will decide what necessary steps are to be taken after discussing with nuclear experts. 

Bloomberg has another good news update. The diesel pumps are scheduled to be restarted either today or tomorrow but these efforts show that, even without the diesel pumps, current efforts are stabilizing the situation and things are getting better.