Crew members on board the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan passed through a radioactive cloud from stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, the New York Times reported on Monday, quoting U.S. government officials.

The U.S. military crew had shifted its offshore forces away from Japan’s stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant after detecting low-level radioactive contamination after a second hydrogen explosion in three days rocked the plant, sending a massive column of smoke into the air and wounding 11 workers.

The New York Times reported that as a result of the explosion, the crew was exposed to a month’s worth of radiation in one hour, U.S. government officials said.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) offshore when it detected the radiation.

On Sunday, the USS Ronald Reagan started delivering aid in the coastal regions of Japan’s Miyagi prefecture.

Crew members, in conjunction with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces, conducted 20 sorties delivering aid pallets.

Eight U.S. and Japanese helicopters were used to distribute the pallets, according to Sgt. Maj. Stephen Valley of U.S. Forces Japan.

Workers are scrambling to cool down fuel rods and prevent a full meltdown in three reactors at the earthquake-hit plant.

Radioactive steam has been released intentionally to lessen growing pressure in the reactors.

(Source: CNN)