The Yomiuri Shimbun

Firefighters engaged in a special mission to spray water into a radiation-leaking storage pool of spent nuclear fuel rods at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant said they had to conquer their fears of radiation's "invisible threat" to accomplish the task.

Yasuo Sato, head of the Tokyo Fire Department's Fire Rescue Task Force attended a press conference held late Saturday with unit leaders Toyohiko Tomioka and Yukio Takayama to review the water spraying operation at the power plant's No. 3 reactor conducted earlier in the day.

When asked about the team's fears in accomplishing the task, Tomioka was momentarily lost for words. "The members displayed an impressively strong fighting spirit [during the mission]...," he said.

After a further pause, Tomioka, 47, then added: " I'm really sorry to have worried their families so much with this mission. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and apologize to each of the families."