Fukushima hopes to put freeze on leaks
Print Edition
JAPANESE regulators have approved the use of a giant refrigeration system to create an underground frozen barrier around buildings at the Fukushima nuclear plant in an attempt to contain leaking radioactive water.
The structure, which was completed last month, can now be activated, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said yesterday.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said it plans to turn on the ice wall today, starting with the portion near the sea to prevent more contaminated water from escaping into the Pacific Ocean. The system will be started up in phases to allow close monitoring and adjustment.
Nearly 800,000 tons of radioactive water that is stored in 1,000 industrial tanks at the plant has been hampering the decontamination and decommissioning of the nuclear facility which was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The success of the ice wall is believed to be key to resolving the plant’s water woes.
The 35 billion yen (US$312 million) government-funded project, proposed by construction giant Kajima Corp, is more than a year behind schedule because of technical uncertainties. Some experts are still skeptical of the technology and question whether it’s worth the cost.
The project consists of refrigeration pipes dug 30 meters underground that are designed to freeze the soil around them. They are supposed to form a 1.5-kilometer wall around the reactor and turbine buildings to contain radioactive water and keep out groundwater.
At a meeting of the nuclear agency, Shunichi Tanaka, its chairman, cautioned against high expectations because the success of the project depends in part on nature. “It would be best to think that natural phenomena don’t work the way you would expect,” he told reporters.
Similar methods have been used to block water from parts of tunnels and subways, but a structure large enough to surround four buildings and related facilities is unprecedented. A smaller wall was used to isolate radioactive waste at an US Department of Energy laboratory in Tennessee, but only for six years. The decommissioning of the Fukushima plant is expected to take decades.
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