TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japanese officials grappling on Sunday to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl were focusing on a crack in a concrete pit that was leaking radiation into the ocean from a crippled reactor.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had found a crack in the pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima, generating readings 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside the pit. [ID:nL3E7F2039]
"With radiation levels rising in the seawater near the plant, we have been trying to confirm the reason why, and in that context, this could be one source," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said on Saturday.
He cautioned, however: "We can't really say for certain until we've studied the results."
TEPCO has begun pouring concrete into the pit to stop the leak, he said.
Public broadcaster NHK said late on Saturday that water was preventing the concrete from hardening and the pit was still leaking.
Officials from the utility said checks of the other five reactors found no cracks.
Nishiyama said that to cool the damaged reactor, NISA was looking at alternatives to pumping in water, including an improvised air conditioning system, spraying the reactor fuel rods with vaporized water or using the plant's cleaning system.
WRAPUP 1-Japan nuclear struggle focuses on cracked reactor pit | Reuters
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had found a crack in the pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima, generating readings 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside the pit. [ID:nL3E7F2039]
"With radiation levels rising in the seawater near the plant, we have been trying to confirm the reason why, and in that context, this could be one source," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said on Saturday.
He cautioned, however: "We can't really say for certain until we've studied the results."
TEPCO has begun pouring concrete into the pit to stop the leak, he said.
Public broadcaster NHK said late on Saturday that water was preventing the concrete from hardening and the pit was still leaking.
Officials from the utility said checks of the other five reactors found no cracks.
Nishiyama said that to cool the damaged reactor, NISA was looking at alternatives to pumping in water, including an improvised air conditioning system, spraying the reactor fuel rods with vaporized water or using the plant's cleaning system.
WRAPUP 1-Japan nuclear struggle focuses on cracked reactor pit | Reuters
