Workers stem flow of radioactive water into sea using mixture of sawdust, newspaper, concrete and a type of liquid glass
Share30
Ben Quinn
The Guardian, Wednesday 6 April 2011
Article history
The Fukushima nuclear plant. Tepco, the plant's owner, will continue to release the 11,500 tonnes until Friday. Photograph: Reuters
Engineers battling to contain the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant appeared to have turned an important corner last night after they stopped highly radioactive water from leaking into the ocean from one of the facility's crippled reactors.
Workers struggling to halt the leaks successfully used a mixture of sawdust, newspaper, concrete and a type of liquid glass to stem the flow of contaminated water near a seaside pit, said the plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).
Earlier efforts involving cement, an absorbent polymer and rags were unsuccessful in plugging the leak, which was discovered on Saturday, while radiation of more than 7.5 million times the legal limit for seawater was found just off the earthquake-hit plant.
In a sign of Tepco's desperation, it breached its own regulations on Monday by beginning an intentional discharge of 11,500 tonnes of less contaminated water into the Pacific to make space for the highly radioactive liquid that was seeping out in an uncontrolled manner.
The company still needs to pump contaminated water into the sea because of a lack of storage space at the plant and will continue to release the 11,500 tonnes of low-level radioactive water until Friday. "The leaks were slowed yesterday after we injected a mixture of liquid glass and a hardening agent and it has now stopped," a Tepco spokesman told Reuters.
A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's northeast coast on 11 March, leaving 28,000 people dead or missing and thousands homeless. It is the country's worst catastrophe since the second world war.
Samples of the water used to cool the plant's reactor No 2 were emitting 5 million times the legal limit of radioactivity, officials said on Tuesday, adding to fears that contaminants had spread far beyond the disaster zone. Workers are still struggling to restart cooling pumps – which recycle the water – in four reactors damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.
Until those are fixed, they must pump in water from outside to prevent overheating, and meltdowns. In the process, that creates more contaminated water that has to be pumped out and stored somewhere else or released into the sea.
The government is considering restrictions on seafood for the first time after contaminated fish were found. India is the first country to ban food imports from all areas of Japan over radiation fears.
Tepco has offered "condolence money" to those affected in the Fukushima region, but one city rejected the compensation and local mayors who came to Tokyo to meet the prime minister, Naoto Kan, demanded greater assistance.
"We have borne the risks, co-existed and flourished with Tepco for more than 40 years, and all these years, we have fully trusted the myth that nuclear plants are absolutely safe," said Katsuya Endo, the mayor of Tomioka.
He was one of eight Fukushima prefecture mayors seeking compensation and support for employment, housing and education for the tens of thousands of evacuees.
A total of 60,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water remains in the plant after workers poured in seawater when fuel rods experienced partial meltdown after the earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11.
No comments:
Post a Comment