In a significant development, workers at Japan's crippled atomic power plant today managed to plug a hole spewing highly radioactive water into the ocean. Though this is a good news, the problems are still far from over as the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power said that they are worried about a build-up of hydrogen gas at a different reactor as it could cause another explosion at the site.
TEPCO officials added that they are planning to inject nitrogen gas into the reactor container to avert a possible explosion. "We are considering injecting nitrogen into the container of the reactor number 1 because hydrogen gas has possibly accumulated in the container," a TEPCO official said.
The TEPCO workers managed to plug the hole after injecting sodium silicate, a chemical agent known as "water glass", near the pit from where water had been escaping into the Pacific. "Workers confirmed at 5:38 am (2038 GMT Tuesday) that the water running out of a pit had stopped," TEPCO said in a statement on Wednesday.
The plant was crippled by the earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in large explosions due the hydrogen accumulation near the reactors. The explosion prompted the government to evacuate people living near the stricken plant. The people were asked to leave their homes as the plant has emitted radioactive material into the air, contaminating drinking water and farm produce. The radioactive content were later detected in vegetables, dairy products and mushrooms forcing many countries including China, Singapore and the United States to stop the import of food from some Japanese prefectures.
