Contaminated water crisis

ALPS and frozen ground wall are the last hope for contaminated water problem

On 9/27/2013, Tepco held the contaminated water task force committee in Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

 

From the report of Tepco, Tepco is placing the multiple nuclide removing system (ALPS) and frozen ground wall as the last hope of settling contaminated water problem.

Tepco states they can reduce the risk of contaminated water by having the multiple nuclide removing system into operation but the system stopped in the first few months of the test operation. Also, radioactive Tritium can’t be filtered, and the technology to remove the remaining Tritium doesn’t exist.

The frozen ground wall is expected to stop groundwater flowing into the plant buildings but it’s an unprecedented case. They haven’t even started the feasibility test of it.

The report revealed Tepco has no back up plan in case none of them actually worked.

 

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/roadmap/images/c130927_03-j.pdf

 

 

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

_____

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See also

ALPS et le mur congelé souterrain sont les derniers espoirs de régler le problème des eaux extrêmement radioactives

 

Le 27 septembre 2013, Tepco a réuni le groupe de travail sur les eaux extrêmement radioactives au ministère de l’Économie, du Commerce et de l’Industrie.

Selon le rapport de Tepco, Tepco place le système de filtration multi-nucléides (ALPS) et le mur congelé souterrain comme derniers espoirs de régler le problème des eaux extrêmement radioactives.
Tepco affirme qu’ils peuvent réduire les risques des eaux extrêmement radioactives en mettant en opération le système de filtration multi-nucléides mais ce système a été arrêté dès le premier mois de ses opérations de test. De plus, il ne filtre pas le tritium radioactif pour lequel il n’existe pas de technique de filtration.
Le mur souterrain congelé sera supposé arrêter l’écoulement des eaux souterraines dans les bâtiments de la centrale mais c’est un précédent. Ils n’en ont même pas commencé les tests de faisabilité.
Le rapport révèle que Tepco n’a pas de plan de secours si aucun de ces deux ne fonctionne.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/roadmap/images/c130927_03-j.pdf

Vous pouvez ignorer la vérité mais la vérité ne vous ignorera pas.

Mochizuki
Mochizuki
The writer of Fukushima Diary.
Related
Previous [Damaged stack] Tepco “looking for” the way to dismantle / cover the stack for high level of radiation
Next Multiple nuclide removing system ALPS stopped again 22 hours after test operation restarted

9 Comments

  2. I do not give up on CLASSICAL CIVIL Engineering techniques; and consider the ‘artificial permafrost’ plan to be somewhat of a stunt. The ‘artificial permafrost’ stunt is entirely a slave to electricity. The stunt appears, IMHO to be destined for repeated, ongoing failures and a potential for a complete ‘Slushy Melt’, which slides (oozes) into the Pacific. If the electricity ‘holds steady’ then the worse prospect of a ‘artificial glacier’ arises, also flowing relentlessly down to the sea.

    The pressure of freezing water is approximately 30,000 PSI, which is equivalent to the chamber pressure in a high powered rifle. The building foundations will be fractured to pieces by the ebb and flow of the ‘artificial permafrost’. If some freezing is advisable at Unit-3, which is likely fissioning, then by all means, with a significant use of insulation and expansion joints. Freeze that, and only that. There must be frost barriers, not merely a long line of growing ice.

    Multiple containment walls, in terraces about the damaged Units 1-4, would add mechanical strength and avalanche protection. Grouting, is a long proven technique in dam building and basement waterproof sealing. The object is to re-direct the water, where it is harmless or even beneficial.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

    1. I respect the Japanese spirit, hard-work, study, teamwork, loyalty, excellence, and discipline. Let’s be frank, since the calamity is so severe and near at hand. Thinking ‘outside the box’ is not a Japanese strong-point. And unfortunately that missing skill set is glaringly obvious in this circumstance.

      No doubt, some well respected, connected, and capable refrigeration contractor has made a great presentation, complete with ‘nuclear grade hookers’, booze, tea and gambling. And they have probably built some excellent indoor chiller systems for skyscrapers and hospitals.

      However, IF one insisted upon constructing an ‘artificial glacier’ on a steep hillside, in a high seismic zone … an ethelene glycol ‘chiller system’, is NOT going to ‘cut the mustard’. It is not going to get cold enough in those -40 pipes to freeze the ground hard enough, wide enough and/or deep enough.

      The Russian Chernobyl plan involved liquid nitrogen, and that would have been a MAXIMUM effort in the Corium Freezing department. The USSR was ‘at the ready’, should the meltdown have gone through the foundation. The Japan proposal is SILLY.

      Sincerely,

      Bill Duff

    2. I must agree with you, stick to the classics. Engineering is great, but in this case I would now be happy with 12 credit hours of physics, a class in logic and one in ethics.

      First, it needs to be explained to Tepco et al, that ‘Cold Shutdown’ does not apply to Units 1, 2 or 3. At its most basic level, cold shutdown requires, among other things, knowing where the nuclear material is located.

      The power for this ice wall will require a source with about the same output as that generated by a small commerical nuclear reactor.

      Tepco speaks of this method being used in mining, it is left unsaid that there is no ‘Ice Floor’.

      The solution used in mining is to constantly pump water out of the mine. Tepco plans to have a water permiable floor on their ice fence.

      The ring of ice will not keep water out from the reactor area, It will only control the path of the water. It will slow the rate of water entry, but continuous pumping will still be needed.

  3. TEPCO’s seaside underground dam seems to be working as it backs water up underground. Why don’t they continue building the other three sides of it? An ice wall underground will do the same thing even if they have to replace it with a more permanent underground concrete wall in the future.

    They are running out of options as water intrudes everywhere and make grouting an iffy proposition even if the melts were found and cool enough for encasement.

    I can’t figure out if TEPCO is still filtering cooling waters or not, their statements aren’t clear on the matter but even at full functional filtering, they can never stop the tritium fallout.

  4. That is just window dressing. In the long run (we are talking centuries here as the “safe” removal of the fuel rods and the molten cores in the ground, which may never be found except by a yet-to-be-developed species of robot, will both fail), in the log run they will give up. Cooling the rods, the cores and shedding the water into the ground and ocean are the only ways forward given the amount of cooling capacity needed. They are not owning up to that because the public has not been told these truths in the past and thus has much too high hopes. But mark my words, wait five years and we’ll see …

  5. Why dont they just entomb the whole thing in salt. They say storing radiactive waste in salt mines works. Maybe there is something about salt that will seal it off and stop it from doing damage. Probably would take a lot to put it out but crazier notions have been tried.

  6. If anything, what would retrieving these cores prove? They should help the cores burn through to the Earth’s core! That WILL get rid of them! Micro nuclear shape-charges could carve out caverns for each core to enter and advance deeper into the Earth.

    Blowing micro nukes in a row for miles underneath each core would get them deep enough to stop affecting the air and water. 10 miles of Earth covering over them (I would think), would be the best way to let them burn their way though toward the Earth’s core!

    All they have to use to find the cores is either or both – ground penetrating radar or infrared satellite imagery to find them. Then triangulate their locations and I know we have the technology to do it. Using Micro nuclear shape-charges would clear a path for each melted core. Drill angled shafts ahead of each core as deep as possible and then, plant micro nukes in their paths. Blow the nukes ahead of them and as each reaches their carved out cavern, each core would fall deeper and faster toward the Earth’s core. This solution is cheaper and more reliable….than attempting to build those ridiculous ice walls!

  7. Freezing the soil to stabilize it is an established construction technique. It was used extensively in the buiulding of the Big Dig Tunnel project in Boston. It is not a permanent solution, but it can prevent the groundwater from flowing until something better is found.

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About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

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