TOKYO-the operator of Japan the crippled nuclear plant began pumping highly radioactive water Tuesday out of the cellar of one of his buildings to a makeshift storage area in a crucial step towards easing the nuclear crisis.

Removing the 25,000 tons of contaminated water collected in the basement of a building in unit 2 of the plant Fukushima Dai-ichi turbine will help access for employees trying to restore vital cooling systems that were eliminated in the 11 March tsunami.

It is but one of the many steps in a lengthy process to resolve the crisis. Tokyo Electric Power Co. projected into a roadmap released at the weekend that it would be up to nine months to reach a cold shutdown of the plant. But government officials acknowledge that setbacks the timeline could slow down.

The water will be removed in stages, with the first third of it be treated in the next 20 days, said Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan of nuclear and industrial safety agency. In all, there are 70,000 tons of contaminated water to be removed from the plant the reactor and the turbine buildings and nearby trenches, and the whole process may take months.

TEPCO brings the water to a storage building that was flooded with light during the tsunami that later became contaminated water pumped into the ocean to space for the highly contaminated water. The operator is also trying to develop a system for the disinfecting of incoming water so that it can be reused to cool the plant reactors, Nishiyama said.

"We hope to gradually contaminated water through that process," he said, adding that the "some months" would take to this system ready.

Once the polluted water in the premises of the plant is safely removed and radioactivity refuse, employees can begin repairing the cooling for the reactors of the units 1, 2 and 3, which employed at the time of the tsunami were. Employees must also restore cooling features on five of the plant spent fuel pools, one for each of units 1-4 and a shared pool for units 5 and 6, which in a cold shutdown on 11 March.

Cold shutdown is when a reactor core stable at temperatures below 100 Celsius.

Some residents who were evacuated from around the Fukushima plant, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, began with Japan's nuclear crisis dragging on, moving from school gymnasiums in temporary housing. Hundreds of which have not found apartments or relatives to take them in began filling up inns in hot springs.

"The Government has asked us to be ready to take in as much as 200 evacuees for the next four months at least," said Masaki Hata, whose family the Yoshikawaya Hot Springs Inn is performed on the edge of Fukushima Prefecture for seven generations.

Michiaki Niitsuma, a 27-year-old office worker, said he was happy to be a comfortable place to stay while he waited to go home.

"My children sick in the shelter. It was cold. It is much better here. It is a relief, "he said.

TEPCO In the blueprint for the reactors to stabilize, the tool aims to cool the reactors and spent fuel pools and radiation leaks in the next three months. Within 6-9 months is the goal of a cold shutdown of the reactors and the buildings, possibly with a form of industrial canvas, to deter any further tamp cover possible radiation leaks.

Two remote-controlled robots in the buildings of the reactor unit 1 and unit 3 shipped on Sunday showed that radiation levels within--to 57 millisieverts per hour--still too high for humans were realistic.

The packbots U.S.-created, which resemble drafting lamps on tank-like treads, were also briefly sent unit 2 on Monday, officials said, and the radiation level turned out to be a much lower 4.1 millisieverts per hour.

But the high level of humidity inside the reactor building fogged the robot's camera lens, making it difficult to see conditions inside. They were withdrawn after less than an hour, said officials.

"We don't want where the robot was able to pick up and then not forget," said TEPCO manager Hikaru Kuroda.

The reason for the higher air humidity was not clear, but it suggests that employees--if they were to go within--would also have difficulties seeing through their masks, Kuroda said.

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