Where concrete has failed to prevent highly radioactive water pouring into the sea, workers at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have shifted hope of plugging the leaks to an absorbent polymer mixed with sawdust and shredded newspaper that expands 50-fold when in contact with water.
Read the full story on the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/03/japanese-officials-nuclear-radiation-crisis