First pictures emerge of the Fukushima Fifty as steam starts pouring from all four reactors at the stricken nuclear power plant







The darkness is broken only by the flashing torchlight of the heroes who stayed behind.

These first images of inside the stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant reveal the terrifying conditions under which the brave men work to save their nation from full nuclear meltdown.

The Fukushima Fifty - an anonymous band of lower and mid-level managers - have battled around the clock to cool overheating reactors and spent fuel rods since the disaster on March 11.

Conundrum: Two of the Fukushima Fifty pour over plans as they try to work out how to fix the stricken plant

Efforts to control the leakage of radiation from the crippled nuclear plant in Japan received a setback early today when steam began pouring from four reactor buildings.



Until then, black smoke billowing from one of the reactors had been the only concern - an incident which resulted in all work to cool four of the reactors being suspended on Wednesday.

At first light in Japan today officials were alarmed to see steam pouring from reactors 1, 2, 3, and 4.



It is the first time that steam has been seen rising from the No.1 reactor since the Fukushima plant was hit by the tsunami nearly two weeks ago.



Rising steam suggests that the fuel rods in the reactors are overheating and evaporating the small amount of water that surrounds them.

Darkness: A worker looks at gauges in the control room for Unit 1 and Unit 2 at the plant

Grainy: Workers collect data in the control room for Unit 1 and Unit 2. They must wear rubber suits to prevent as much radiation from entering their bodies as possible

Firemen this week have been blasting water into the reactors using long hoses but officials were not able to tell whether the desperate work was covering the fuel rods.



Then, when black smoke began pouring out of one of the reactors - suggesting that something was burning - all water-blasting work was suspended and everyone trying to stabilise the plant was ordered to evacuate.



It is believed the steam rising from the four reactors today is from spent fuel rods that have been kept outside the main containment structure where currently active fuel rods are located.



But the spent rods must still be kept immersed in water. If they are not, radioactivity is released into the atmosphere.



Despite sweltering heat from the damaged reactors, they must work in protective bodysuits to protect their skin from the poisonous radioactive particles that fill the air around them.

But as more radiation seeps into the atmosphere minute by minute, they know this job will be their last.

Teamwork: Outside the men connect transmission lines to restore electric power supply to Unit 3 and Unit 4 Aiming high: Workers in protective suits work on a transmission tower to restore electricity to Units 5 and 6

Damage: A collapsed eave lies outside the security gate for Unit 1 and Unit 2. Much of the plant was destroyed by the tsunami

Five are believed to have already died and 15 are injured while others have said they know the radiation will kill them.

The original 50 brave souls were later joined by 150 colleagues and rotated in teams to limit their exposure to the radiation spewing from over-heating spent fuel rods after a series of explosions at the site. They were today joined by scores more workers.



Japan has rallied behind the workers with relatives telling of heart-breaking messages sent at the height of the crisis.

BABY PORPOISE RESCUED AFTER BEING DUMPED BY TSUNAMI IN FLOODED PADDY FIELD

A baby porpoise was rescued after surviving two weeks in a flooded paddy field. The porpoise was dumped there by the 33ft tsunami that has devastated the east coast of Japan on March 11.

Pet-shop owner Ryo Taira, who has been rescuing animals abandoned after the catastrophe, said: 'A man passing by said he had found the dolphin in the rice paddy and that we had to do something to save it.'

Taira, 32, found the porpoise struggling in the shallow seawater and after failing to net it, waded in to the fieldto cradle the 4ft creature to safety.

'It was pretty weak by then, which was probably the only reason we could catch it,' he said.

He wrapped it in wet towels and drove it back to the sea, where he set it free. He said it appeared to perk up at the sight of the Pacific, he said.

'I don't know if it will live, but it's certainly a lot better than dying in a rice paddy,' Taira told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

A woman said her husband continued to work while fully aware he was being bombarded with radiation. In a heartbreaking email, he told his wife: 'Please continue to live well, I cannot be home for a while.'

One girl tweeted in a message translated by ABC: 'My dad went to the nuclear plant, I've never seen my mother cry so hard. People at the plant are struggling, sacrificing themselves to protect you. Please dad come back alive.'

But it is becoming even more pressing that the Fukushima succeed after it was revealed today that Tokyo's tap water has been contaminated by unusual levels of radiation.

The government have issued a warning to all mothers urging them not to let babies drink the tap water.

The warning came after it emerged last night that radioactive particles have reached Europe and are heading towards Britain in the wake of the catastrophe that officials say could cost up to £190billion - making it the costliest natural disaster in history.

And fresh safety concerns arose today as black smoke was spotted emerging from Unit 3 of the plant, prompting a temporary evacuation of all workers from the complex, operators Tokyo Electric Power company said.

Tokyo Water Bureau officials said levels of radioactive iodine in some city tap water contained 210 becquerels per litre of iodine 131 - two times the recommended limit for infants.

They warned parents not to give babies tap water, although they said it is not an immediate health risk for adults.

Nearly two weeks after the twin March 11 disasters, nuclear officials were still struggling to stabilise the damaged and overheated Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, which has been leaking radiation since the disasters knocked out the plant's cooling systems.

Radiation has seeped into vegetables, raw milk, the water supply and even seawater in the areas surrounding the plant.



Meanwhile, officials in Iceland have detected ‘minuscule amounts’ of radioactive particles believed to have come from Fukushima, the site of the worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Last night the British Government said radiation from Japan had not been detected by the UK’s network of monitoring stations set up after the 1986 Chernobyl explosion. A spokesman said any signs of radiation were not expected in the next few days. However, France’s nuclear agency said tiny amounts were likely to arrive in the country by today. Water spray: Workers at Fukushima yesterday try to cool the plant Smoke: Fresh safety concerns arose today as black smoke was spotted emerging from Unit 3 of the plant, prompting a temporary evacuation of all workers from the complex

The traces of radioactive iodine are being measured by a network of 63 monitoring stations as they spread east across the Pacific, over North America and into the North Atlantic.

Radiation from nuclear accidents and explosions is monitored by the UN’s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation, based in Vienna.



A source said several stations had detected particles believed to have been released from Fukushima in the days after it was hit by the earthquake and tsunami.



‘Reykjavik is the first in Europe,’ the source added. The levels are about one millionth of the natural background radiation, and pose no threat to the public, experts said.



Swabbing the decks: A U.S. Navy photo shows sailors conducting a wash down of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan today to wash away radiation

‘We are not expecting it to be detected in Britain in the next few days,’ a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.

Japanese officials said the health risk was low outside the plant, but were yesterday chastised by the International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog over a lack of information about how much radiation had been emitted.

Levels in Tokyo rose ten-fold in the days after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake earlier this month, and tiny traces have been detected in California and Washington DC.

The IAEA lacks data on the temperatures of the spent fuel pools of reactors 1, 3 and 4 at Fukushima.

Destroyed: A road in Naka, Iwake prefecture on March 11 shortly after being devastated by the earthquake Transformation: The carriageway has already been reconstructed and tarmaced ready for use

It has been claimed the plant was storing more uranium than it was designed to hold, and had repeatedly missed mandatory safety checks.

The official death toll in Japan has exceeded 9,400. At least 13,200 people are still missing and 350,000 are in shelters.

Yesterday firemen connected electric cables to the plant in the hope of restarting cooling systems. Although hundreds of tons of water have been blasted into two of the damaged reactors, smoke and steam continue to pour out.