Steam found coming from damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor

New York Times : Earlier today, cameras watching Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant observed steam coming out of the top of the damaged number 3 reactor’s primary containment structure. Tepco spokesman Hiroki Kawamata said that monitoring equipment detected no signs of criticality or sustained nuclear reactions and that temperature and radiation levels at the reactor are stable. However, all debris removal work—which is performed remotely by crane because of the radiation—was halted as a precaution. Kawamata also said that the power company believes the steam was caused by rainwater seeping into the structure and vaporizing from the heat. By evening, the amount of steam had decreased, but not stopped. The company has plans to put a cover in place to prevent rainwater from reaching the reactor, but debris removal must be finished first. If there are any signs of reignited nuclear reactions, the company is prepared to inject boric acid into the building to slow the fission process.