Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) has instructed Tokyo Electric Power Co. to reexamine its plans to build an ice wall to freeze radioactive water in a tunnel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
NRA ordered the review because the contaminated water in the tunnel is flowing too fast and is making it difficult for the freezing ducts inserted in the soil around the tunnel to freeze and create a wall, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun. TEPCO said in the article it hopes to remove the contaminated water from the tunnel after blocking the flow into the tunnel, which connects the turbine buildings for reactors 2 and 3 and contains about 11,000 tons of radioactive water.
TEPCO began freezing the water near Unit 2 in April with freezing ducts inserted into the ground. The plan is to remove the water from the tunnel and fill it with cement, the article said. The problems with this project are casting doubt on another project to freeze subsurface soil and keep contaminated water from flowing into the ocean.
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