In Japan, technicians restored power to the reactor number one of Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday, even as white steam wafted from four reactors at the tsunami-damaged seaside facility.

With the incremental progress the workers can now use two crucial control rooms — at reactors one and three — which they were earlier forced to abandon after a series of explosions.

Reconnecting the reactor control rooms was seen as a key step as workers hope to restart the original cooling systems. An official of the nuclear safety agency said, they are hoping to restore a water pump later that would inject fresh water into the fuel pool.

Meanwhile, two workers at damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been taken to hospital after being exposed to high levels of radiation. Radiation levels in Tokyo’s water supply have now fallen, but remain high in other areas of northern Japan.

The authorities in Tokyo said, the radiation levels in tap water have dropped and it is safe once again for the infants. Earlier, the government had warned that the water was unsafe for infants to drink.

Radiation from the plant has spread as far as Tokyo, 250 kilometers to the south, and infected milk and vegetables in wide areas surrounding the plant.

Meanwhile, Australia, Canada and Singapore all joined the United States in imposing new restrictions on Japanese food exports. Japan’s National police said that 9,700 people have been confirmed dead and 16,500 are reported missing in the disaster. About 3 lakh people are living in temporary shelters.