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Japanese crews battling to avert a nuclear disaster say they may spray acid from helicopters to stop fuel rods from “reaching criticality” and releasing more radioactivity.

A fresh fire broke out in the No.4 reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant this morning but reportedly later put itself out, with firefighters unable to approach because of high radiation levels.

Engineers were also keeping a close eye on the plant’s No. 5 and No. 6 reactors amid fears they could overheat after cooling systems began to fail.
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A proposal for helicopters to dump boric acid into the reactor is one idea being considered as authorities grapple to keep up with the unfolding crisis which followed Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami.

Boric acid is often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant and in nuclear power plants to control the fission rate of uranium.
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John left White Mountain with 10 puppies at 12:04AM local time, and Ramey left 50 minutes later with 9. Their race is down to the 77 mile final sprint to Nome.

John was through Safety at 6:48AM local with 22 miles to go.

In the rookie race, Nicolas Petit (14) has a two-hour lead on Kelly Maixner (55) beyond Shaktoolik, but Kelly has a 3 puppy advantage – 13 to 10. Kelly has been moving up the rankings steadily.

Note: Petit is running Jim Lanier’s all-white huskies. Jim is laid up after hip surgery, but his team is making the run.

Ramey went through Safety at 8:13AM local, +1:25, and had to drop a dog.

John Baker, an Inupiaq from Kotzebue, has won and set a new record. His exact time hasn’t been posted, but the unofficial time is 2 or 3 hours faster than Martin Buser’s 2002 pace. He has been a consistent top-ten finisher, and this was his year. The puppies wanted to get out of the heat in the “south”.

From the Anchorage Daily News: “Baker crossed the line at 9:46 a.m., finishing the race that began March 6 in Willow in 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes, 39 seconds and slicing three hours off the previous record.”

Update: Three teams have scratched. Mike Santos (27) scratched because his team didn’t want to play any more. Kris Hoffman (8) and Robert Bundtzen (10) both scratched when they ran out of leaders for their teams.

At Nome

1 John Baker (53)
2 Ramey Smyth (30) +1:04
3 Hans Gatt (23)
4 Dallas Seavey (21)
5 Hugh Neff (35)
6 Sebastian Schnuelle (31)

Beyond Safety

7 Ray Redington, Jr (3)
8 Peter Kaiser (54)

Beyond White Mountain

9 Jessie Royer (58)
10 DeeDee Jonrowe (2)
11 Ken Anderson (43)
12 Aliy Zirkle (18)
13 Sven Haltmann (45)
14 Michael Williams, Jr. (41)
15 Sonny Lindner (52) [Read more →]

CNN reports that number 2 has exploded, no doubt as a result of hydrogen build up, like 1 & 3, and now there is a fire in number 4.

The radiation level is rising, so all but 50 emergency personnel have been evacuated.