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Posted: 29 Jan 2014 06:04 AM
PST
Tokyo Electric workers are to
begin work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to create underground
frozen walls at the Unit 2 and Unit 3 turbine buildings on Wednesday.
The utility is also digging wells across the compound to determine whether or
not water is leaking directly from the reactor buildings.
Enormous amounts of coolant
water is injected around the clock to prevent the melted nuclear fuel from
overheating is leaking from the damaged reactor containment vessels and
mixing with groundwater in the reactor buildings, turbine buildings, and
various underground tunnels, before seeping into the ground and reaching the
sea.
The utility hopes that the ice
walls will prevent highly radioactive wastewater from flowing into the ocean.
Workers will dig vertical holes
which will house pipes to inject liquid coolant to create frozen walls to
block the water. They will have to contend with cables and other
obstructions in the tunnels which may hinder the work.
Workers are unable to access
the underground tunnels due to the high radiation levels and the contaminated
water, and will be forced to perform their work using remote-controlled
cameras.
According to the schedule
provided by TEPCO, workers are scheduled to finish installing the pipes by
mid to late March.
Many outside experts have
expressed skepticism as to whether or not the project will offer any real
benefit, arguing that the technique has only ever been used on a small
scale. There is even concern that the ice wall will drive the
contaminated water even deeper underground.
The post TEPCO begins
work on underground ice wall at Fukushima Daiichi appeared
first on Enformable.
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