Spent fuel pool never went dry in Japan quake

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says early fears that all the water was gone from spent fuel pools at the stricken nuclear complex in Japan were unfounded.

The NRC says new video shows that spent fuel pools at Unit 4 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex probably did not go dry, as NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko had insisted in March. Japanese officials had denied Jaczko's claim, which was based on information from NRC staff and other experts who went to Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Bill Borchardt, the NRC's executive director for operations, said Wednesday that U.S. officials welcomed the video evidence as "good news" and one indication that the meltdown at the Fukushima plant "may not have been as serious as was believed."