Radioactive water leak into sea stops at Fukushima

TOKYO: A leak of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant was stopped Wednesday, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced.

"Workers confirmed at 5:38 am (2038 GMT) that the water running off out of a pit had stopped," the embattled operator said in a statement.

TEPCO had on Tuesday injected sodium silicate, a chemical agent known as "water glass", to solidify soil near a cracked pit, from where highly radioactive water had been seeping through and running into the sea.

The water had been found to have a radiation level of more than 1,000 millisieverts and is believed to be the source of spiking radioactive iodine-131 readings more than 4,000 times the legal limit in ocean waters.

The pit, which has a 20-centimetre crack in its wall, is linked to the plant's reactor No. 2, one of those which had its cooling systems put out of action by the quake and tsunami of March 11, triggering the nuclear crisis. (AFP)