TEPCO Told To Hurry To Stop Radiation Leaks, Tries Bath Salts

One official has warned it could take months before the nuclear crisis caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami is under control.

“We need to stop the spread of (contaminated water) into the ocean as soon as possible. With that strong determination, we are asking Tokyo Electric Power Co to act quickly,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.

He warned that accumulating radiation from a leak that has defied desperate efforts to halt it “will have a huge impact on the ocean.”

In the face of Japan’s biggest crisis since World War Two, one newspaper poll said that nearly two-thirds of voters want the government to form a coalition with the major opposition party and work together to recover from the massive damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Underlining the concern over the impact on the world’s third largest economy, a central bank survey showed that big manufacturers expect business conditions to worsen significantly in the next three months, though they were not quite as pessimistic as some analysts had expected.

An aide to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Sunday that the government’s priority now was to stop radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, and that the situation had “somewhat stabilised.”

“How long will it take to achieve (the goal of stopping the radiation leaks)? I think several months would be one target,” said Goshi Hosono, a ruling party lawmaker and aide to Kan.

In the face of Japan’s biggest crisis since World War Two, one newspaper poll said nearly two-thirds of voters wanted the government to form a coalition with the major opposition party and work together to recover from the natural disaster.

Underlining the concern over the impact on the world’s third largest economy, a central bank survey showed big manufacturers expected business conditions to worsen significantly in the next three months, although they were not quite as pessimistic as some analysts had expected.

An aide to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Sunday the situation at the Fukushima plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, had “somewhat stabilised”, but it may take months to stop radiation leaks.

At least four of the plant’s six reactors will be scrapped once brought under control, but that could take decades.

BATH SALTS, SEA CURTAIN

In their desperation, TEPCO engineers have used anything at hand to try to stop the leaks.

At the weekend, they mixed sawdust and newspapers with polymers and cement in an unsuccessful attempt to seal a crack in a concrete pit at reactor No.2.

On Monday, they resorted to powdered bath salts to produce a milky colour to help trace the source of the radiation leak.

TEPCO said it was also planning to drape a curtain into the sea off the nuclear plant to try to prevent radioactive silt drifting out into the ocean. Reuters