Japan seeks Russian ship to treat N-leak

Tokyo, April 4 (Reuters): Japan has asked nuclear superpower Russia to send a special radiation treatment ship used to decommission nuclear submarines to help in its fight to contain the world’s worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl, Japanese media said late on Monday.       

Japanese engineers at the Fukushima nuclear plant have been forced to release radioactive wastewater into the sea. At the same time they are resorting to desperate measures to contain the damage, such as using bath salts to try to locate the source of leaks at the crippled complex 240km north of Tokyo.       

Three weeks after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami hit northeast Japan, sending some of the plant’s reactors into partial meltdown, engineers are no closer to regaining control of the power plant or stopping radioactive leaks.       

The quake and tsunami left nearly 28,000 people dead or missing and Japan’s northeast coast a wreck.       

The world’s costliest natural disaster has caused power blackouts and cuts to supply chains and business hours. It is threatening economic growth, while a recent opinion poll suggested voters want embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan to form a coalition in order to steer Japan through its worst crisis since World War II.       

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) was forced on Monday to release low-level radioactive seawater that had been used to cool overheated fuel rods after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated water.       

A Tepco official was in tears as he told a news conference: “We are very sorry for this region and those involved.”       

Tepco said it would release more than 10,000 tonnes of water about 100 times more radioactive than legal limits in order to free storage capacity for more highly contaminated water.       

“We have instructed strict monitoring of the ocean to firmly grasp the impact on the environment,” chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said.       

Engineers planned to build two giant “silt curtains” made of polyester fabric in the sea to hinder the spread of more contamination from the plant.

Japan has also asked Russia for radiation treatment ship “Suzuran”, which treats radioactive liquids, Kyodo and Jiji news agencies said.       

The ship, a joint venture between Japan and Russia, was designed to help decommission nuclear submarines in Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostock, ensuring radioactive waste was not dumped into the Sea of Japan, Kyodo said.       

But it could take months to stem the leaks and even longer to regain control of the power station, damaged by last month’s quake and tsunami.       

Japan, the world’s third largest economy but also one of its most indebted nations, has estimated the damages bill may top $300 billion.       

“The damage from the nuclear crisis and the subsequent power shortage will last for several years,” said Eiji Hirano, former assistant governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ).       

“There’s a strong chance Japan’s economy will contract in the current fiscal year,” he told Reuters in an interview.       

A former senior BOJ official, Eisuke Sakakibara, said the yen would weaken in the coming months, possibly beyond 90 to the dollar, underlining expectations a near four-year rally in the currency may be over.

The yen traded at 84.05 per dollar on Monday.       

The disaster initially saw the yen soar on speculation Japanese would repatriate funds for reconstruction, prompting the G7 intervention to knock it back.