Sawdust latest weapon in bid to stop radiation
Source: Agencies |
April 4, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
It could take several more months to bring Japan's tsunami-ravaged nuclear plant under control, a safety agency spokesman warned yesterday as engineers tried to find a way to stop highly radioactive water pouring into the Pacific.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex has been spewing radioactivity since the March 11 tsunami carved a path of destruction along Japan's northeastern coast, killing as many as 25,000 people.
Nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama offered the first sense of how long it might take to bring an end to the nuclear crisis, which has forced people within 20 kilometers of the plant to abandon their homes.
"It would take a few months until we finally get things under control and have a better idea about the future," Nishiyama said. "We'll face a crucial turning point within the next few months, but that is not the end."
Bringing the reactors at the plant under control will require permanently restoring cooling systems knocked out by the tsunami. That task has been complicated by dangerous conditions at the plant.
New problems crop up at the complex nearly every day. Workers discovered a 20 centimeter crack in a maintenance pit on Saturday and said they believed water from it may be the source of some of the high levels of radioactive iodine found in the ocean.
They had trouble telling where the water was coming from, and this was the first time they found it leaking directly into the sea.
The contaminated water dissipates quickly in the ocean but could pose a danger to workers at the plant.
Engineers tried to seal the crack with concrete on Saturday, but that didn't work. So 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 stopped the leak by last night but engineers have not given up hope and should know this morning whether it will work.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co yesterday confirmed the first tsunami deaths at the plant, saying a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old were conducting regular checks when the 9.0-magnitude quake hit.
They ran to a basement turbine room and were there when the massive wave swept over the plant.
"It pains us to have lost these two young workers who were trying to protect the plant amid the earthquake and tsunami," Tsunehisa Katsumata, TEPCO's chairman, said.
The high levels of radioactivity at the plant made searching for the men dangerous and their bodies were not discovered until last Wednesday and had to be decontaminated. The announcement was delayed while their families were notified.
The nuclear crisis has compounded the suffering of people in the northeast and, at times, overshadowed their plight.
Tens of thousands have lost their homes and are living in shelters, 200,000 households do not have water, and 170,000 no electricity.
Throughout the coastal region yesterday, helicopters and planes roared by as United States and Japanese forces finished their search for bodies.
The effort was probably the final hope of retrieving the dead, though limited operations may continue. It turned up nearly 50 bodies in the past two days.
In all, more than 12,000 deaths have been confirmed, and another 15,500 people are missing.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex has been spewing radioactivity since the March 11 tsunami carved a path of destruction along Japan's northeastern coast, killing as many as 25,000 people.
Nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama offered the first sense of how long it might take to bring an end to the nuclear crisis, which has forced people within 20 kilometers of the plant to abandon their homes.
"It would take a few months until we finally get things under control and have a better idea about the future," Nishiyama said. "We'll face a crucial turning point within the next few months, but that is not the end."
Bringing the reactors at the plant under control will require permanently restoring cooling systems knocked out by the tsunami. That task has been complicated by dangerous conditions at the plant.
New problems crop up at the complex nearly every day. Workers discovered a 20 centimeter crack in a maintenance pit on Saturday and said they believed water from it may be the source of some of the high levels of radioactive iodine found in the ocean.
They had trouble telling where the water was coming from, and this was the first time they found it leaking directly into the sea.
The contaminated water dissipates quickly in the ocean but could pose a danger to workers at the plant.
Engineers tried to seal the crack with concrete on Saturday, but that didn't work. So 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 stopped the leak by last night but engineers have not given up hope and should know this morning whether it will work.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co yesterday confirmed the first tsunami deaths at the plant, saying a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old were conducting regular checks when the 9.0-magnitude quake hit.
They ran to a basement turbine room and were there when the massive wave swept over the plant.
"It pains us to have lost these two young workers who were trying to protect the plant amid the earthquake and tsunami," Tsunehisa Katsumata, TEPCO's chairman, said.
The high levels of radioactivity at the plant made searching for the men dangerous and their bodies were not discovered until last Wednesday and had to be decontaminated. The announcement was delayed while their families were notified.
The nuclear crisis has compounded the suffering of people in the northeast and, at times, overshadowed their plight.
Tens of thousands have lost their homes and are living in shelters, 200,000 households do not have water, and 170,000 no electricity.
Throughout the coastal region yesterday, helicopters and planes roared by as United States and Japanese forces finished their search for bodies.
The effort was probably the final hope of retrieving the dead, though limited operations may continue. It turned up nearly 50 bodies in the past two days.
In all, more than 12,000 deaths have been confirmed, and another 15,500 people are missing.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
