Posted on 09/03/2013 8:14:30 AM PDT by Pan_Yan
Japan is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into building a frozen wall around the Fukushima nuclear plant to stop leaks of radioactive water.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said an estimated 47bn yen ($473m, £304m) would be allocated.
...
Water is now being pumped in to cool the reactors, but storing the resultant large quantities of radioactive water has proved a challenge for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).
Under the government plan, a wall of frozen earth will be created around the reactors using pipes filled with coolant to prevent groundwater coming into contact with contaminated water being used to cool fuel rods.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Whatever happened to Dr. Josef Oehmen? He said he was not worried about this in 2011.
Seems like I read where an “ice wall” was used to block water intrusion in an underground mining project (I think) in Canada...
Not a bad idea in principle. There probably aren’t the same seismic issues in Canada.
Just wait until November when they are going to try to remove the rods in SFP number 4. The whole plant is one big major catastrophe.
Exactly what I was thinking. I guess that makes us big nerds.
This is scary stuff.
It would crack the base in a heartbeat...just like happened with the foolproof nuclear core containments in the initial quake. Even one of the thousands of irradiated fuel rods being mishandled or damaged by disaster could also set off a nuclear chain reaction. The ice shield has been used at mining sites and I think even the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Pray a lot.
Even if it does work, what happens when the toxic reservoir is released in another event. Slurry ponds were a solution for coal mines in Logan County WVA until they failed due to a combination of heavy rains and negligence.
Wow, Bernake would be pleased to see someone else with a printing press...wonder which mafia-based companies get this contract in Japan? Note: Japan is the most corrupt gov’t-business relationship country out there (even more than Greece)...currency wars continue.
Exactly! And I can live with that... :-)
Deep freezing of soil is commonly used all over the world in many construction projects, like tunnels or foundations of buildings. It stabilizes soft or liquified soil until the digging is completed and the tunnel is enclosed. Sometimes liquid Nitrogen is used; sometimes regular coolants are sufficient. The technology is known for 150 years, so it's nothing special today.
They held up the subway system in Boston during the Big Dig using this process.
Is putting down an “ice wall” analagous to putting up a “stone wall?”
It’s interesting that whenever Nuclear power begins to be promoted as the answer to energy needs, something like this happens. Decades ago, I read articles about foolproof designs for power plants. If another quake hits this Japan plant, the Pacific will end up glowing in the night.
Night gathers and my watch begins.....
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