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Japan struggles to stop radiation leak into sea
[Bangla Daily Star] Japanese engineers grappling yesterday to control the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl tried to seal a crack leaking radiation into the Pacific sea from a crippled reactor.The drama at the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi complex has dragged into a fourth week, unsettling the global nuclear industry and compounding Japan's suffering after an earthquake and tsunami that left about 27,500 people dead or missing. Radiation has leaked into the sea, food, drinking water and air. It is hindering efforts to cool overheating fuel rods work at the plant and regain control of the damaged reactors, reports Rooters. Engineers tried to seal the crack with concrete on Saturday, but that didn't work. So on yesterday they injected a mix of sawdust, shredded newspaper and a polymer that can expand to 50 times its normal size when combined with water. The polymer mix had not yet stopped the leak last night but engineers have not given up hope and should know by today morning whether it will work, reports AP. Experts say that beyond the disaster zone, there is minimal risk to human health further afield in Japan or abroad. At the weekend, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) found a crack in a concrete pit at the No 2 reactor, generating readings of 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside. The crack may be one source of leaks that have sent radiation levels in the sea soaring to 4,000 times the legal limit. To cool damaged reactor No. 2, engineers were looking at alternatives to pumping in water yesterday. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-04 |
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