Fire trucks doused the earthquake crippled Number Three reactor for hours. Officials said pressure levels were stabilising and they would not now have to release radio active steam to prevent another explosion. The focus there continues to be on reconnecting power supply which would allow the cooling systems to be restarted. Japan’s nuclear safety agency says, pressure is rising again in one of the reactors at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Safety agency official said today that efforts to put water in the Unit 3 reactor might not have been working.

Now, the plant operator will release some radioactive gas from the reactor to ease the pressure. He added that the action will raise radiation levels around the plant and may slow work on restoring power and cooling systems to the unit. Problems have been reported at all six of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant’s reactors. Fire trucks have been focusing a near-constant stream of water on overheated reactors and nuclear fuel, helping to stabilize the situation. However, officials earlier acknowledged the gains could be temporary.

Japan raised the severity rating of the disaster from 4 to 5 on the 7-point international nuclear event scale. Level 5 signals an accident with wider consequences, including some release of radioactive material, with a high probability of significant public exposure. The number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing has surpassed 20,000, nine days after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck. There were fears of a far higher death toll from the disaster. More than 360,000 people have been displaced from their homes and taken shelter in evacuation facilities in 15 prefectures.