Urgent work is continuing on several fronts to contain the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Efforts to cool down the reactors continued on Friday. A barge provided by the US Navy is preparing to pump large volumes of fresh water by hose to a water tank near the No.1 reactor.

Workers at the plant are replacing seawater with fresh water to cool the reactors and spent-fuel storage pools. The move follows concerns that salt in the seawater could clog up reactor equipment and hamper the flow of coolant water.

Near the No.4 reactor, 400 liters of a synthetic resin solution were sprayed in an experiment intended to solidify contaminated dust and prevent radioactive materials from getting airborne.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company is due to test the solution for about 2 weeks to see if it works.