Freezing Soil Fails

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced its operational change in its project of freezing soil around broken First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. In spite of the effort to contain contaminated water, the freezing wall set underground did not work well and TEPCO confirmed leaking at least four places. Unprecedented project to freeze surface of the earth is appearing to be a myth.

In the underground tunnel around the second and third reactors of the plant, there still remains eleven thousand metric tons of highly contaminated water leaked from broken reactors. TEPCO tried to halt the flowing water by freezing the soil between reactors and tunnel, as a part of overall freezing wall, resulting in realization of the land not frozen. As long as flow of contaminated water does not stop, TEPCO cannot remove water in the tunnel.

Shinzo Abe administration decided to adopt this soil-freezing project in May 2013. After some following consideration, construction of underground wall around the second and third reactors started this April. While it originally was a project for a month, the construction delayed facing insufficient freezing of soil. With consecutive flow of underground water into the site, contaminated water is still increasing by four hundred tons a day.

Nuclear Regulation Authority has been skeptical on effectiveness of the soil-freezing project. This kind of engineering has no example, except minor level projects in construction of subway. The authority has been taking a close look at its feasibility, regardless planned time schedule. On the other hand, the national government and TEPCO realizes that the project has gone beyond the point of no return, because the government had decided to pour a huge amount of money and manpower into it. Bureaucracy never admits its failure.

Increasing contaminated water keeps on annoying TEPCO. The company started this month persuading fishermen to understand its project, which scoop the contaminated water flowing in, purify it and throw it away to the ocean. Acknowledging the purification process cannot completely remove all kinds of radioactive materials, fishermen are reluctant to accept the project. Contaminated water accumulated in a huge number of tanks around the site is still going nowhere.

Growing concern is spreading. Some doubt that the government may secretly consider pouring contaminated water into the sea. Those skepticisms are emerging from unrealistic idea of freezing earth. Reckless challenge against great nature, in addition to the attempt to control nuclear power, still sees no end state.