Two Bodies Found at Japan Nuclear Complex
Workers continue trying to seal a crack at ravaged plant.
April 3, 2011— -- The Tokyo Electric Power Co. today confirmed the first tsunami-related deaths at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex: a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old who were working when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.
"It pains us to have lost these two young workers who were trying to protect the power plant amid the earthquake and tsunami," TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement.
The two workers may have run into a basement turbine room when the deadly wave hit the plant, according to The Associated Press.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told The Associated Press today that cleanup of the nuclear facility may be prolonged, as officials seek new alternatives to stop the leakage of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
"It would take a few months until we finally get things under control and have a better idea about the future," Nishiyama said. "We'll face a crucial turning point within the next few months, but that is not the end."
Radioactive water has been spilling into the Pacific Ocean from a crack in a maintenance pit discovered Saturday at the distressed nuclear complex.
Engineers today used a mix of sawdust, shredded newspaper and an expanding polymer to try to seal the crack. TEPCO is also devising a third plan in case the polymer injection does not plug the crack, which will be more apparent on Monday.
A representative for TEPCO said Saturday that attempts to plug the crack with fresh concrete did not reduce the amount of water leaking from the reactor.
The crack was discovered on the edge of the plant, Nishiyama said. It was most likely caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the coast of Japan and the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, according to the AP.
"This could be one of the sources of seawater contamination," Nishiyama said. "There could be other similar cracks in the area, and we must find them as quickly as possible."
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