Japan Regulators OK Costly Ice Wall at Fukushima Plant

Japanese regulators on Wednesday approved the use of a giant refrigeration system to create an unprecedented underground frozen barrier around buildings at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant in an attempt to contain leaking radioactive water.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said the structure, which was completed last month, can now be activated.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said it plans to turn on the ice wall on Thursday, starting with the portion near the sea to minimize the risk of contaminated water escaping into the Pacific Ocean. The system will be started up in phases to allow close monitoring and adjustment.
Japan Regulators OK Costly Ice Wall at Fukushima Plant

Anything that helps stop the flow of radioactive water into the environment is great. It's great that they're trying to be responsible and make progress. I just question if freezing a huge amount of water to create a wall is going to last...forever. I mean, it's going to have to last forever to be effective. That's not an exaggeration.

As you can read here, "The water contains plutonium 239 and its release into the Ocean has both local and global impacts." That's a description of the very same water that the ice wall is meant to stop. Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,110 years so I think the word "forever" is appropriate.

Still, at least something is being done.

originally posted by: Profusion
That's a description of the very same water that the ice wall is meant to stop. Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,110 years so I think the word "forever" is appropriate.

This seems to imply they only plan to run it for decades, not forever:

A smaller wall was used to isolate radioactive waste at an U.S. Department of Energy laboratory in Tennessee but only for six years. The decommissioning of the Fukushima plant is expected to take decades.

It took them long enough to get this ice wall going but better late than never I suppose. Now they don't know if it will work or not, time to find out:

Asked at the meeting if the ice wall is worth the cost, TEPCO accident response official Toshihiro Imai replied, "Its effect is still unknown, because the expected outcome is based on simulations."

Oh good, they can hold in the waste and take care of the "oceans warming at an alarming rate" at the same time. Why didn't I think of that!

Good to see they doing something, hope it works.

I just question if freezing a huge amount of water to create a wall is going to last...forever. I mean, it's going to have to last forever to be effective. That's not an exaggeration.

Hopefully it can provide more time for a better solution to be found. 1 is not sure if its the final answer, but it may slow the pollution of direct radioactive water into the oceans. Which can further harm the marine ecosystems if not controlled... Wishes Humanity the best in finding more intelligent options to combat this global issue that can affect the future of humanities genetics also if not properly treated.

GOOD LUCK JAPAN

NAMASTE*******

• The nearly mile-long structure consists of underground pipes designed to form a frozen barrier around the crippled reactors.
• The $312 million system was completed last month, more than a year behind schedule.
• Nearly 800,000 tons of radioactive water are already being stored onsite.
‘Ice Wall’ Is Japan’s Last-Ditch Effort To Contain Fukushima Radiation

The ice wall is a "nearly mile-long structure"?

I'm starting to think this really has a very very slim chance of succeeding.


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I was listening to Coast to Coast AM the other night when Linda Moullton Howe was talking about this. In all honesty, I really hope that this works and is really effective in stopping the spread of radioactive ground water from seeping into an already irradiated Pacific Ocean. I mean just look at what the radiation is doing to the plant life with all of the cases of the gargantuan fruits and berries that are popping up in the affected area. We are talking an area the size of Connecticut just on land that has been affected by the radiation. Then we have the very high possibility that the radiation from the leaking or missing cores has done irreparable damage to the food chain along the western Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, and the Bering Strait.

Something that we should all consider is why the core of Reactor #2 hasn't been fully explored yet. We know that the robots that are being sent in to examine the cores of the Number 1 and Number 3 reactors are dying due to the levels of radiation at the plant. There's something about Reactor #2 that both the Japanese government and TEPCO are not telling the general public. the Number 2 reactor at Fukushima may have completely melted through the concrete floor that it was setting on and it may in fact have went through the ground down to the water table. There's more to this than what is being told by the Japanese government.