The Russians encased the crippled, belching reactor at Chernobyl in tons and tons of sand and concrete, erecting a "sarcophagus" atop the radioactive ruins. But the high-tech Japanese? They intend to affix radioactive contamination in place by sealing it in resin.

The government plans to spray a water-soluble resin over debris at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to prevent radiation leaks from spreading further, officials said Wednesday.

An unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle will spray the solution in order to affix radioactive substances onto the debris, the officials said.

It's like something out of that weird TV show Fringe. Perhaps the Fukushima disaster is worse than we thought, and more than just spewing radiation, it's actually torn a hole between universes?

Meanwhile in other Fukushima news, air may be leaking from the Numbers 1 and 2 reactors, the highest radiation levels yet have been measured in seawater near the plant, and Tokyo Electric Power Co. announces what we already knew, that it will scrap all four damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, and that addressing the ongoing nuclear crisis there will be a long, drawn-out process.

''We apologize for causing the public anxiety, worry and trouble due to the explosions at reactor buildings and the release of radioactive materials,'' TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said, relatively safely ensconced at the company's head office in Tokyo, 220 kilometers southwest of the leaking plant. I'll refrain from commenting further on the understated nature of the quote, but regular readers know what I'm thinking.