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Japan Seeks Russian Help On Nuclear Crisis

Radioactive contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant No. 2 reactor leaks through a crack in a concrete pit and drains into the Pacific Ocean on April 2.

Japan has asked Russia to send a floating treatment plant used to decommission nuclear submarines to help Japan contain radiation from the earthquake- and tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power complex.

A spokesman for the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom, Sergei Novikov, said Moscow was considering the request.

The vessel, called the "Landysh," is reported capable of treating radioactive liquid with chemicals and storing it in a cement form.

The vessel was reportedly built with Japanese funds to help dispose of liquid nuclear waste from decommissioned submarines.

The request was disclosed as workers at the Fukushima plant have begun pumping contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean in order to free storage space for even more highly radioactive water.

Since the March 11 earthquake and tsunuami, workers have been struggling to stabilize the Fukushima plant, which has leaked substantial amounts of radiation into the air, soil and sea in the area.

compiled from agency reports