nuclear-news

Coolant solution leaks at Fukushima Daiichi plant

The frozen wall was a temporary solution for maximum 7 years and the time has run out anyway.

Jan. 22, 2022

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says coolant solution used to create a frozen soil wall around reactor buildings has leaked.

The underground barrier is meant to block groundwater from flowing into the reactor buildings that were damaged as a result of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been using a calcium chloride solution to maintain the barrier. The firm has been storing the liquid at minus 30 degrees Celsius in four tanks.

TEPCO says liquid levels in two of the tanks dropped on January 16. It says its workers found a pool of the solution near the wall and estimated roughly 4 tons of it had leaked.

The utility says the wall remains capable of keeping groundwater out as it takes several months before the barrier begins to thaw. It adds that the solution does not harm the environment.

TEPCO says the pipe circulating the solution may have been partially damaged. It says it will pinpoint the damaged section and fix it as soon as possible.

January 24, 2022 - Posted by dunrenard | Fuk 2022 | Fukushima Daiichi, Ice wall, Leakage