Japan in nuclear standby

Japan may be losing the battle at the Fukushima nuclear power plant after a rise in radiation levels meant attempts to stabilize the situation had to be halted. Smoke has been seen coming from the site on Wednesday, which has already been hit with explosions and fires since Friday's mega-quake .

Japanese news agency NHK broadcast pictures of what seemed to be a column of smoke rising from the reactor at Unit 3 of the Fukushima-1 nuclear plant, hours after a fire broke out at the nuclear reactor.

Tokyo Electric Power Co suggested it could indicate the water inside the spent fuel pool within the reactor could be boiling. The reactor itself is feared to have cracked. Further operations at the facility were suspended to prevent Fukushima-1 plant from melting down. Due to a surge in radiation, all 50 remaining workers who were dealing with the crisis were withdrawn from the facility on Wednesday, but allowed to return almost an hour later, according to Kyodo news agency. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the process of cooling the reactors with water was disrupted by the need to pull the workers out.

Japan's Defense Ministry decided to use helicopters and fire trucks to spray water and boric acid to prevent further radiation leaks and to cool down the reactors. But the operation had to be aborted due to high radiation levels over the facility. Japan has requested boric acid from South Korea. Seoul on Wednesday said it would provide 53 tons of the acid, which amounts to almost all the country has, except for a quantity for domestic use.