REPORTS FROM TOKYO say that radioactive water is not gushing into the sea.
CNN reports that authorities at the plant noticed that water was no longer gushing into the Pacific Ocean from the turbine building of the No 2 reactor.
On Saturday, radiation levels in the water near the plant were 7.5 million times the legal limit; by Tuesday, this had reduced to 5 million times above the limit.
Water was gushing through an 8-inch crack, which workers tried to fill with concrete and then a silica-based polymer.
At first it was thought their attempts were not successful but now it appears that the crack has been filled.
By this afternoon, Japanese time, there were no known major radioactive emissions into the air, water or ground.
However this does not mean that the crisis at the plant is over. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters:
We cannot be optimistic, just because we were able to plug this one.
An official with Japan’s nuclear and industrial safety agency said that authorities are aware that other problems could arise, especially as excess water may still be flooding the No 2 unit’s turbine building basement, which could lead to another leak.
Edano admitted that the authorities did not do a good enough job explaining the plan to plug the leak and said that they should have given more information to the people who may be concerned, particularly in neighbouring countries.
Members of Japan’s fishery association spoke about their feelings of being ignored after they asked the plant not to dump radioactive water into the sea, only to find out that it had happened.
In total, 11,5000 tons of radioactive water was dumped into the Pacific Ocean.
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