ATLANTA — Crews loaded a 190,000-pound pumper truck onto a massive cargo plane on Friday so it can fly to Japan and pour water onto damaged nuclear reactors that are now spewing radiation.
A Russian Antonov AN-124 cargo jet, one of the world's largest aircraft, landed Friday afternoon at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where it will picked up one of the massive pumps. The second was to leave from Los Angeles International Airport.
The pumps, among the world's largest, were designed by Putzmeister America to pump concrete. They are mounted on a truck with 26 wheels. Normally, the pumps spray concrete for new skyscrapers and bridges.
At the request of the Japanese utility TEPCO, they have been refitted so they can spray cooling water on reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
WSBTV
