Ground Freezing proposed to stop radioactive groundwater at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

A worker walking near water tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

A worker walking near water tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

New leaks into the groundwater have been detected at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan that experienced a triple meltdown in 2011 after an earthquake and Tsunami. The plant’s operator, Tepco, recently admitted that radiactive contaminated groundwater is leaking into the Pacific Ocean at a rate of 75,000 gallons per day. The groundwater gradient in the vicinity flows from the mountains to the Ocean, passing through the plant. The water has flooded reactor buildings and leaks within the facility then contaminate the water. Tepco has previously constructed some kind of underground barrier wall by injecting a chemical hardening agent into the ground. But the water built up behind the wall and eventually flowed over. The latest plan was announced by the Japanese government, which has stepped in to take a more active role after what many see as another example of Tepco’s mismanagement of the disaster. This plan involves using ground freezing to a depth of 100 feet to create a mile long ‘ice’ wall that will prevent the groundwater from entering the facility and becoming contaminated. [Source: Read more about this latest chapter in the nuclear disaster at NYTimes.com. Image: Toshifumi Kitamura via the NYT]