Ice wall turned on at Fukushima

Tokyo - A Japanese operator said Thursday it had turned on a huge underground ice wall around reactor buildings at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant to contain leaking radiation-contaminated water.

Japanese regulators on Wednesday allowed Tokyo Electric Power to start freezing soil on the east side facing the sea first. About $300 million of taxpayers' money was provided for the unprecedented project.

In June 2014, the operator started installing equipment to create the frozen barrier around Reactors 1 to 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The work was completed in February.

The plant suffered a triple meltdown after it was hit by a huge earthquake and ensuing tsunami in March 2011. It is expected to take decades to decommission the complex.

The 1.5-kilometre-long and 30-metre-deep wall is designed to back up the flow of groundwater from entering the basements of the highly contaminated facilities.

The barrier is expected to reduce the amount of groundwater flowing into the buildings every day to about 50 tons from the current 200 tons, the operator said.

The government “hopes the ice wall will stem the flowing of groundwater into the facilities at an early date,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

DPA