Japan says it may take months to end radiation leaks

Japan's government warned on Sunday it may take months to stop radiation leaking from a nuclear plant crippled by a huge earthquake and tsunami three weeks ago, as more bodies were recovered in devastated areas of northeast Japan.
An aide to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government's priority was to stop radiation leaks which were scaring the public and hindering work on cooling overheated nuclear fuel rods.
"We have not escaped from a crisis situation, but it is somewhat stabilised," said Goshi Hosono, a ruling party lawmaker and aide to Kan. "How long will it take to achieve (the goal of stopping the radiation leakage)? I think several months would be one target," Hosono said on a nation-wide Fuji TV programme on Sunday.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) found a crack in a concrete pit at its No 2 reactor in the Fukushima Daiichi complex at the weekend, generating readings of 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside.
The leaks did not stop after concrete was poured into the pit, and TEPCO turned to water-absorbent polymers to prevent any more contaminated water from going out.
The latest effort to staunch the flow of radioactive water into the Pacific started on Sunday afternoon. Workers then topped the polymers with more concrete.
"We were hoping the polymers would function like diapers but are yet to see a visible effect," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Officials believe the crack could be one source of the radiation leaks that have hobbled efforts to control the six-reactor complex and sent radiation levels in the sea soaring to 4,000 times the legal limit.
The battle to cool overheated reactors and avoid dangerous meltdowns of the highly radioactive fuel rods has seen workers hose saltwater into reactors, but this has left the facility awash with contaminated saltwater, preventing workers getting closer to the reactors. Nishiyama said fresh water was now being pumped into No 1, 2 and 3 reactors using external power, which was more stable than the emergency diesel generators previously being used. He said the three reactors were now generally stable.
The 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami on March 11 has left nearly 28,000 people dead or missing and Japan's northeast coast a splintered wreck.