» TEPCO plan to try cement as an additional sealant for stopping radioactive water

2014/08/20

TEPCO said it will test cement and other materials as a sealant to completely stem the radioactive water pouring from turbine buildings into trenches at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, as ice walls are proving insufficient.

TEPCO’s latest plan comes after ice walls at connecting points between the turbine buildings and the trenches failed to halt about 10 percent of the flow.

The plan was reported at a meeting of the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Aug. 19, which will consider the utility’s proposal in September. If it gets the green light, TEPCO will immediately begin implementation, which is expected to be complete by the end of the month.

Currently, 11,000 tons of highly radioactive water have accumulated in the trenches, which extend from the turbine buildings toward the ocean. The water flowed into the trenches after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake.

The government and TEPCO have been constructing “frozen soil walls” to encircle reactor buildings and turbine buildings to prevent groundwater from entering those buildings and increasing the amount of contaminated water.

Ninety percent of the radioactive water at the connecting points was successfully frozen, but the remaining 10 percent continued to flow into the trenches. TEPCO concluded that the ice walls are insufficient.
<Media Report>
TEPCO to review ‘ice wall’ scheme to stop flow of contaminated water from reactor (Mainichi Newspaper)

TEPCO plans to add sealant to ice walls to halt flow of radioactive water (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:leakage, news, NRA, radioactive water, TEPCO

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