Tape Fukushima nuclear power plant

An ice ring formed in the ground to cover the Fukushima nuclear power plant, preventing radioactivity from spilling out. I don't know how successful this measure will be. Freezing technology is known in the mining industry, but has never been applied to the scale of Japan.

>>>Japan spent over 400 million USD cleaning Fukushima

For Tepco, the company that runs the Fukushima nuclear power plant is damaged, groundwater is still a big problem. Water continues to leak from abandoned factories, creating uncontrollable flows and causing many difficulties for remedial work. Moreover, water carries with them radioactive elements. Along with the amount of water that Tepco pumped from above to the plant to cool the reaction core, the amount of contaminated water formed daily, according to observers, can be up to a thousand tons.

Water tanks and cooling tubes dug deep into the ground to freeze the soil around the nuclear power plant.(Photo: tvi24.iol.pt)

Although contaminated water is pumped, filtered and reused for cooling, but still over 400 tons per day. This water is fed into new water tanks. However, over the weekend there was a phenomenon of contaminated water leaking from here. Consequences: groundwater outside the nuclear power plant is becoming more and more contaminated. People also worry that contaminated water flows to the sea nearby and pollutes. An ice ring in the ground surrounding the No.1 to No. 4 reactors was deployed to permanently prevent this leak.

Last weekend, knowing the level of radiation in the factory area is much higher than the published information, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the Japanese government spent 47 billion yen (360 million Euro) to overcome the situation. this condition.

Under the plan, people will ice soil in the factory area. The cooling tubes are dropped into the ground, the cooling solution will be pumped through this duct system. This refrigerant liquid is usually salt water at a temperature of minus 35 degrees Celsius, capable of cooling soil near the mouth of the tube thereby causing groundwater to freeze. An ice ring is formed around the reactor area so the water inside the ice ring cannot flow out, and the outside groundwater cannot penetrate inside.

"When needed, people can maintain this situation for a very long time , " said mechanical professor Joachim Bluhm of the University of Duisburg (Germany). Professor Bluhm said, to form a layer of ice, requires a huge amount of energy, but to maintain this situation energy consumption is relatively low.

Helmut Haß, a construction engineer, also remarked that there is a lot of advantages to grounding of the ground compared to other methods such as chemical pumping or sand and gravel walls with adhesive.

There are about 1,000 containers of water on the site ofthe nuclear power plant with a capacity of about 335,000 tons of water.(Photo: nytimes.com)

Haß says this method can be applied even to depths of up to 600 meters, moreover, this ice wall ensures 100% protection.

The method of tape is from the 19th century and is applied in the mining sector. Helmut Haß and his business, CDM Smith, used the bandage method to reinforce the Pisa leaning tower. However, the application of the tape method to prevent soil pollution in Fukushima is considered an exceptional situation. Investing in a tape measure of millions of dollars. However, because they did not know the detailed conditions in Fukushima, the experts could not give exact numbers.

Despite his experience and knowledge of the advantages of this method, Mr. Ha still argues that caution should be taken in assessing the chances of success for the rescue measures in Fukushima as this is a project that Giant tissue unprecedented ever.