Two Workers' Bodies Recovered at Fukushima

The bodies of two workers have been recovered at Fukushima Dai-ichi, the first confirmed fatalities at the foundering nuclear plant. The men had rushed to check equipment in the basement in the wake of the 9.0 earthquake, reports the LA Times—and autopsies confirmed they were killed in the mammoth tsunami followed. Meanwhile, Tepco officials continue trying to patch the newly discovered crack in a maintenance pit that's allowing radioactive water to leak into the ocean.

That water measured a radiation level of 1,000 millisieverts per hour—four times the legal exposure limit for workers per year. Crews spent yesterday pumping concrete into the hole, but failed to stop the flow. Today, they plan on using a fast-setting plastic polymer to attempt to seal the crack. Tepco is running out of options as to what to do with the tons of contaminated water it has pumped over its reactor; tanks at the plant are nearing full. (More Fukushima Daiichi stories.)