Japan: Fukushima plant cooled with fresh water

US naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan’s overheated nuclear plant today to help workers scrambling to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility.

Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been pumping seawater in a frantic bid to stabilise reactors overheating since a tsunami knocked out the complex’s crucial cooling system on March 11.