A rat may have caused the power outage that affected the Fukushima nuclear power plant this week, according to the Associated Press:
Masayuki Ono, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, says a 15-centimeter (6-inch) rat was found dead Wednesday near a switchboard. He says the rat may be linked to the power failure, but that more investigation is needed to be sure.
Cooling systems at the plant for four storage pools for nuclear fuel were knocked out Monday. Power was restored early Wednesday at all nine affected facilities.
The Fukushima nuclear plant's power was knocked out after the earthquake and tsunami struck off the coast of Japan two years ago.
