The ice wall will help stop radiation from Fukushima
Last reviewed: 16.05.2018
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Fukushima is a Japanese nuclear power plant that became notorious for the whole world after an accident that occurred as a result of the strongest earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. Today, one of the main problems of the power plant is the threat of spillage of toxic water-contaminated water and the government of Japan intends to strengthen measures to prevent the spread of radiation.
To block radioactive water, an underground ice wall will be erected, which will completely surround the nuclear power plant, according to experts this will significantly slow down the spread of contaminated water.
The ice wall, especially under the ground, may seem at first glance to be fantastic, but in reality it represents a technique developed by engineers for drilling tunnels and mining, although initially the scale of such a wall was much smaller.
The essence of the wall is the pumping through the underground pipes of the frozen salt solution, this method will freeze the soil and seal four nuclear reactors damaged in the results of the natural cataclysm.
Recent water samples showed an increased level of radiation, while a high level of toxic substances was detected not only close to nuclear reactors, but also near the western coast of the United States, which indicates that a leakage of radioactive substances is constantly occurring from a damaged nuclear power plant.
Employees of the Fukushima nuclear power plant have already filled with water from reactors steel hermetic tanks made specifically for this purpose, but there are still places to which a person simply does not have access, since radiation in some areas is off scale and even research robots are out of order due to burned out wires. Groundwater drains daily to reactors, as a result toxic substances penetrate the sea and pose a threat to all life on the planet, therefore, in the near future it is necessary to solve this problem.
The erection of the ice wall began 2 years ago and now the construction is at the final stage. The Nuclear Regulatory Agency has already approved the launch of the project, which will be launched in the coming days. The launch of the project will be the beginning of the implementation of the actions planned by the Japanese government, to block four failed reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The wall will not be launched immediately, but in several stages, but the first one accounts for more than 90% of the entire process. According to the operator of the nuclear power plant, from the splashing of contaminated water from the reactor will help a clearance in the wall, which will not allow the groundwater table to fall below the planned level. Only after the initial stage shows the effectiveness (according to preliminary calculations the groundwater flow should be halved) and the corresponding permission will be obtained to start the remaining stages, a solid wall around the four reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant will be provided. Now there are no clearly defined schedules, but it is expected that the full launch of the "Ice Wall" project will occur during this year.