Contaminated water crisis

Preceding frozen water wall hasn’t worked since April

Related to this article.. Fukushima worker “Frozen wall was originally designed to stand with clay wall but they removed to cut the cost.” [URL]

 

A preceding part of the frozen water wall hasn’t been frozen for over a month, according to Tepco.

Tepco has started installing the frozen water underground wall to isolate 4 reactor buildings in Fukushima plant. Preceding the wall, Tepco installed the same wall in underground trench of the seaside of Reactor2 and 3.

Approx. 11,000 t of highly contaminated water is assumed to be retained in this trench to leak to underground and the Pacific.

This was an attempt to stop additional contaminated water flowing from reactor2 turbine building to this trench by freezing water like a wall. However even though they have been trying to freeze the water since the end of April, the water hasn’t been frozen by now.

 

They assume it is because the inner structure prevents water from being frozen and also the contaminated water is still flowing.

 

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/archive-j.html

 

 

You read this now because we’ve been surviving until today.

_____

Français :

See also

Le mur congelé précédent ne fonctionne toujours pas, depuis avril

 

Article lié : Un travailleur de Fukushima : “Le mur congelé était initialement conçu doublé de murs d’argile mais ils les ont enlevés pour faire des économies”

Selon Tepco, une portion précédente du mur congelé n’a pas été congelée depuis plus d’un mois.
Tepco avait commencé l’installation du mur souterrain congelé devant isoler 4 bâtiments de réacteurs de la centrale de Fukushima. Avant ce mur-ci, Tepco avait installé le même mur dans la tranchée du côté mer des réacteurs 2 et 3.
Environ 11 000 T d’eau extrêmement radioactive est supposée être contenue dans cette tranchée et fuir en sous-sol vers le Pacifique.  C’était une tentative pour empêcher qu’encore plus d’eau s’écoule depuis le bâtiment de la turbine du réacteur 2 turbine dans cette tranchée que d’en congeler l’eau pour en faire un mur. Néanmoins, bien qu’ils aient essayé de congeler cette eau depuis la fin d’avril dernier, cette eau n’est toujours pas congelée aujourd’hui.

Ils supposent que c’est parce que la structure interne empêche l’eau de geler et aussi parce que l’eau extrêmement radioactive s’écoule toujours.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/archive-j.html

Vous pouvez lire ceci parce que nous avons survécu jusqu’à aujourd’hui.

Mochizuki
Mochizuki
The writer of Fukushima Diary.
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39 Comments

  2. -30 is not cold enough

    ‘TEPCO finds water in tunnels not yet frozen’, Jun. 16, 2014 – Updated 19:26 UTC http www3 (nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140617_04) html?play http www3 (nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140617_04) html

    Workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant say their effort to freeze radioactive water in underground tunnels hasn’t gone as planned. In April, they began pouring chemical solutions into tunnels at the No.2 reactor. They hoped to freeze the water to stop it flowing out to the sea. But tests show the water remains above freezing temperature.

    Operator Tokyo Electric Power Company believes objects in the tunnels are preventing the coolant from spreading evenly. They also said running wastewater is slowing the process. They say they are planning to find ways to control the water currents and add pipes to pour in more coolant. They say they may not be able to complete the frozen barrier by the end of the month, and dry up the tunnel next month, as scheduled. They are trying the same process in a tunnel around the No.3 reactor.

  3. My what a shocker (NOT), the slushy wall is a bust

    ‘Fukushima operator struggles to build ice wall to contain radioactive water’, Environment Fukushima, Agence France-Presse in Tokyo, theguardian.com, Tuesday 17 June 2014 06.01 EDT, http www (theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/17/fukushima-ice-wall-radioactive-water)

    Tepco said on Tuesday that a smaller, inner ice wall whose pipes it sank earlier to contain the already-contaminated water was proving difficult. “We have yet to form the ice stopper because we can’t make the temperature low enough to freeze water,” a Tepco spokesman said. “We are behind schedule but have already taken additional measures, including putting in more pipes, so that we can remove contaminated water from the trench starting next month.” The coolant being used in the operation is an aqueous solution of calcium chloride, which is cooled to -30C (-22F).

    1. I’ve hear people refer to radioactive water as “hot” many times – could either you (or anyone else) please confirm whether this is just a figure of speech, or is tthe temperature of the water actually higher than normal? I’ve always been interested in this phrase, for some reason,and now that INEPTCO is trying to freeze the water around the F-plant, I’m wondering if this has something to do with it.

      1. Yes, the water is, generally speaking, thermally raised in temperature. The radiation processes, generally give off energy. Some of it is in light (visible and/or invisible) and some is in heat (thermal radiation). Some other energy forms can be given off, such as sound (phonons).

        Most of these energy emissions interact with their surroundings and heat is one of the results. Visualize sunlight coming through your car windshield and making the car hot. There are some electrons involved, but that is unnecessary detail for your purposes.

        We say the nuclear fuel is hot; and it is, in virtually every possible way.

  4. Let’s see here …

    We have a thousand TONS of groundwater rushing under and through the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

    The Pacific Ocean Tide is measurable in the well bores.

    We have the radiant heat of the Sun and the rising heat of the earth below.

    The nuclear reactors and spent fuel pools are contributing heat.

    There is no radient barrier material or insulation.

    The proposed HVACR system is designed for recirculating ice chillers in hospitals.

    Not even close. Not even in the ballpark.

    1. Oh, shut up. You’ve no idea what you’re talking about. You’re just paid to post lies and nonsense.

      1. The headline says …

        “Preceding frozen water wall hasn’t worked since April”

        Oh and in this hemisphere, at these latitudes, July is generally hotter than April, May & June.

        Getting Hotter

        1. Bill, I think you may have answered my question about the “hot” water with your previous post (before some schill butted in with some childish accusation); is the actual water that’s leaking of an elevated temperature, which could be inhibitng the freezing process? Note,I know nothing about nuclear physics.

          1. Yes, nuclear reactors, corium and spent fuel produce heat. The decay heat dies off exponentially with respect to time.

            The water leaking out of the reactors, metal shells and containment is elevated in temperature. The water is pumped in, to cool the fuel and corium; and rises in temperature in the process. It is an ‘equal and opposite’ sort of thing. We call it an energy balance.

            We can keep score in BTUs, Watts, Joules or whatever. I always use 1-Second Intervals, in such matters. Therefore energy and power are identical in that time reference. Skips the dimensional analysis. Much Simpler that way. Math and physics are difficult enough. So we take all the easy way outs that we can find.

            1. Hey, thank you for the explanation. So it’s not just a figure of speech… As someone who knows their stuff, how long would you say it would take for this water (that they’re trying to freeze) to cool down enough to freeze – that is to say, would you say it’s even possible for them to freeze something that seems to be constantly in direct contact with spent nuclear fuel/other radioactive processes?

              1. Bill doesn’t actually know his stuff. He just tries to sound like he does, which convinces most people.

                1. Bill, when you say the corium is hot, can you please specify what temperatures you think they are at? Also, please provide your estimated mass, since you say they’ve exploded over several thousand square miles and melted deep underground.. what is your estimationeof the rate of groundwater flow actually coming in contact with the cores? Can you estimate the total thermal output in 1-second interval units. (You’ll need to explain your made up units for those of us who know some real ones)

                  2. I’LL provide another answer.

                    Ask Japan and TEPCO. The functionality of the Slushy Wall has been broadly challenged. And the present design is rather evidently non-functional.

                    The Russian Design for Chernobyl was adequate. Japan has screwed up.

                    Kind of obvious to everybody but Niall, who is a total dumbshit.

                    TTFN

              2. The Fukushima Water (1) CAN be frozen, but it is (2) not advisable.

                With respect to number 1, a significantly colder circulating fluid (gas) is required. Liquid Nitrogen is sufficiently cold (-320.42F, -195.79C), but the cost is about like milk at the grocery store. CO2 is about the practical upper temperature boundary for a project of this sort. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide (CO2). A block of dry ice has a surface temperature of -109.3 degrees Fahrenheit (-78.5 degrees C). The pressures, temperatures and costs of a CO2 are significantly cheaper.

                (2) The problems of artificial permafrost have been previously discussed at length. Chiefly, the 30,000 PSI pressures of the water expansion would reduce the building foundations even more to rubble; more than they already are. Remotely, an avalanche could occur; which would be an ELE.

                Sincerely,

                Bill Duff

                1. The CSFP is also astoundingly, not being evacuated as would seem sensible.

                  So, they are not certain the new casks fit their safety criteria, thereby possibly endangering people in the short term?

  5. ‘running wastewater is slowing the process’. Uh yes, well, hello! If the wastewater wasn’t running they would need to build the wall. If the wall is ever completed, huge quantities of groundwater will be running along its uphill side.

  7. ‘Tepco says it is behind schedule with scheme because temperature of pipes sunk into ground is not low enough’

    theguardian com/environment/2014/jun/17/fukushima-ice-wall-radioactive-water

    Looks like Bill Duff was spot on about this one.

  8. ‘Hot’ is a general term referring to anything dangerously radioactive. From there you enter gray areas as to what is dangerous when it comes to radioactive material. A meltdown is ‘hot’ a spent fuel rod is ‘hot’ a fresh unused fuel rod is not ‘hot’ a flea (plutonium or uranium particle) speck is referred to as ‘hot’ when caught in your lung tissue.

    Since radioactive materials are in a state of decaying (unstable) into daughter products as they morph into other substances either again radioactive or at the end of their life span,inert materials, this results in decay heat and can be measured and are of known values during the entire decay chain life and is of concern in large amounts or in concentrated (pure) amounts outside the human body. Inside the human body poses different concerns i.e. radiation poisoning, cancers, gene and DNA damage, etc.

    With all that said, the failed icing seems to involve fast flowing water refusing to stay in one place to be cooled and turn to ice.

    1. Substances dissolved in water (perhaps some salt water, too) lower the freezing point for it. In effect, it acts loosely like antifreeze. As rads in it decay, inevitably they can add to ionization (antifreeze) in that water.

      It is moving in the tunnel, too? Don’t you have to dam the water before it can freeze, otherwise the water in motion donates it’s thermal differential to the evap piping and moves on.

      “Hot”; that seems reminiscent of “Heat” or thermal energy, sometimes associated with friction or unrecoverable waste energy. Thermodynamically, radioactive isotopes represent a higher-entropy state of matter, do they not?

      1. ‘Hot’ is a misnomer but still appropriate in describing nuclear dangers. Sure the decay heat could burn you up but you have the sense enough to flee heat but with invisible radiation spewing all over is it almost impossible to sense by carbon based beings and it is to late by the time you start feeling ill ex. nose bleeds, metal taste in your mouth, etc. Without wearing badges and carrying Geiger counters to warn of radiation, you would not know a site was ‘hot’ (dangerous) until it was to late, health wise.

        As to water movement in the tunnel, inside the tunnel is extremely radioactive and contributing to contaminating the environment by leaking. TEPCO is not saying how fast it is leaking but apparently fast enough to interfere with freezing any moving water.

        Why they don’t dam it first, one would have to know and access the leak point to plug it. Easy if it wasn’t extremely radioactive. That’s why they do everything from afar. To avoid the radiation. Maybe they should go back to using shredded baby diapers and newspapers to plug leaks like they did early on.

        1. Quote: “Without wearing badges and carrying Geiger counters to warn of radiation” …

          That seems to be the new paradigm, and imperative for those without means to measure &/or compare types/counts/amplitudes.

          We should all have equipment like that demonstrated in Mochizuki-san’s newer article.
          http ://fukushima-diary.com/2014/06/17000-bqkg-of-cs-134137-from-soil-of-a-public-drinking-fountain-in-yaita-city-tochigi/

          1. … & it should only cost hundreds of dollars (if you own laptop/desktop), where governents stamp up&down insisting it costs tens of thousands of dollars. (one might suppose they have to justify their spending)

  9. About HVAC – Preschool Level – Thermodynamics 4 Poets & Lovers

    Engineers, Physicists, & Chemists routinely use ‘State Drawings’ such as this: http www (co2clean.com/images/i13.gif), to quickly evaluate material properties and changes of state (liquid, gas & solid). In the refrigeration process, the CO2 is compressed and cooled to the liquid range. Then the liquid is piped to the heat exchangers (in the groundwater, in this case). Then the small liquid stream, is squirted into the much larger heat exchanger volume. As the liquid expands and loses pressure, becoming a gas, EVERYTHING gets very cold. Then the gas is pumped back to the compressor.

    That’s how it works, in the realms of engineering reality.

    TTFN

  10. Cooling with CO2 (Making Dry Ice)

    CO2 is the fizzy in your soda, champagne and Alla-Seltzer. Industrial CO2 is usually a liquid in a high pressure tank. We can change the material characteristics of the CO2 quite easily.

    If we place a cotton sock over the tank nozzle and turn the valve on, the extremely high pressure is released and quickly converts to a sock full of dry ice. The dry ice is cold enough to rapidly freeze 151 Rum.

    Simple as that.

  11. This is where I go for real news about what’s going on at the Fukushima NPP.

    http ://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2014/06/fukushima-i-npp-telephone-game-nth-time.html

    1. I know, that article was along the lines of “is this statement redundant, or is this statement redundant?”
      I hope i properly clarified when i quoted similar earlier, concerning the recent failure for a trial frozen wastewater plan to crystallize.

      Respectfully, try here –> http ://ex-skf.blogspot.ca/2014/06/fukushima-i-npp-on-google-maps.html

  12. The TEPCO Dirt Slurpee

    ‘Fukushima ‘ice wall’ looking more like a dirt Slurpee’, NEWS The Scrutineer, Jun 18 11:45 AM, by Gregg Levine @GreggJLevine, http ://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/6/18/fukushima-ice-walllookingmorelikeadirtslurpee.html

    Skeptics of the plan to build a massive ice wall around Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility didn’t have to wait particularly long for their first “I told you so.”

    TEPCO, the nominal operator of the battered plant, announced Tuesday that while construction on the network of pipes, pumps, and compressors has begun on what is intended to be a huge ice barrier to prevent mountain runoff from mixing with radioactive water inside the facility, attempts to form a smaller ice wall around already-contaminated water are failing. “We have yet to form the ice stopper because we can’t make the temperature low enough to freeze water,” a TEPCO spokesman said.

    The Fukushima Dirt Slurpee

    1. They had to infringe upon 7-11’s trademark (IIRC),
      otherwise people might reasonable associate “squishee” with the Simpsons, of whom notably Homer J. D’oh!

      Last time i saw the inside of a squishee machine, it’s resivoir had a layer of mold over an inch thick. That cured me of “squishee” addiction.

  13. Dirt Slurpee

    So far, the WINNER of the ‘Name that non-functional ice-wall’ contest.

    Dirt Slurpee

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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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