CNN Wire Staff

Tokyo (CNN) - The chairman of the Japanese company that owns the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said Wednesday it has no choice but to decommission four of the plant's six reactors.

Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., made the comment in a news conference as workers struggled to keep the reactors cool and prevent the further spread of radiation from the earthquake- and tsunami-stricken plant.

"Looking at current conditions, I have to say there are no options other than decommissioning reactors 1-4," Katsumata said.

He also said he is aware the Japanese government is considering nationalizing the company in the wake of the disaster, but "we want to make every effort to stay a private company."

Radioactive iodine at more than 3,000 times the regulatory limit has been found in ocean water near the plant, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.

Monitoring data collected Tuesday afternoon detected the I-131 isotope at 3,355 times the regulatory limit, the agency said. The sample was taken 330 meters (1,080 feet) away from one of the plant's discharge points, the agency said.

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CNN Wire Staff

Benghazi, Libya (CNN) - The CIA is operating in Libya to help the United States increase its "military and political understanding" of the situation, a U.S. intelligence source said Wednesday.

"Yes, we are gathering intel firsthand and we are in contact with some opposition entities," the source told CNN.

The White House refused to comment on a Reuters report Wednesday that President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel troops.

"I will reiterate what the president said yesterday - no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya," said White House press secretary Jay Carney in a statement. "We're not ruling it out or ruling it in. We're assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters."

Meanwhile, another senior Libyan official broke Wednesday with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, whose loyalist forces have opposition fighters on the run after a string of successes.

And members of Congress questioned administration officials as to why they weren't asked to authorize Obama's decision to commit U.S. forces.

According to the Reuters report, Obama signed the covert aid order, or "finding," within the past few weeks. Such findings are required for the CIA to conduct secret operations, the report said.

A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly could not confirm the finding but noted when there are crises like this, "you look at all instruments of national power."

In early March, a U.S. official told CNN "the intelligence community is aggressively pursing information on the ground" in Libya.

There has been growing discussion over whether the coalition will arm the opposition and provide training on the use of effective weapons systems.

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CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) - European and American leaders weighed the pros and cons of arming Libya's rebels Wednesday - a possibility made more urgent by a series of new military setbacks for forces seeking to topple strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Government forces have been pushing from Bin Jawad to Ras Lanuf, a critical eastern oil town that the opposition seized on Sunday. Gadhafi's military has also launched escalated strikes in the western town of Misrata.

The new offensive was launched in the wake of an international arms embargo and airstrike campaign designed to establish a no-fly zone and provide humanitarian relief for civilians threatened by the Libyan military.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons Wednesday that the United Nations Security Council mandate "allows all necessary measures to protect civilians and populated areas (and) this would not necessarily rule out provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances."

"As I've said before, we do not rule it out but we have not taken the decision to do so," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he is also open to the possibility of arming rebel fighters.

"I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in," he told NBC.

In a separate interview with ABC, Obama said that "if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could. ... We're looking at all our options at this point."

One significant problem, however, is the need to train opposition forces on how to use advanced weaponry.

"The notion of the gang that couldn't shoot straight might be lived out," retired Maj. Gen. James "Spider" Marks told CNN Tuesday night.

"There must be some degree of training associated with arming this force," said Marks, a former commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center. "However, some weapons systems, clearly they can get a handle on and they can use immediately. It's the more lethal weapon systems that would require training, and I don't think there's time to do that."

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