Anonymous Coward User ID: 37864819 United States 08/08/2013 11:02 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Official warns Fukushima reactor buildings could “topple” p Tepco’s work to change flow of groundwater can form pools below surface Wall St. Journal: Official warns Fukushima reactor buildings could “topple” — Tepco’s work to change flow of groundwater can form pools below surface that soften the earth[...] as [Tepco] prepares this week to start work on a new set of measures that would ring off and cap the area where the most highly contaminated water has been found, some experts and regulators are saying that the battle to completely contain radioactivity to the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents may be a losing one. [...] It’s preparing to extend the underground hardened-earth barrier in a ring around the most heavily contaminated section of coastline, in hopes of heading groundwater off before it can flood in. Tepco is also proposing to cap that ringed section with gravel and asphalt, so nothing gets out. The operator is hoping to get an initial ring of hardened ground done by October. [...] But there’s a risk to changing the flow of groundwater in the ways that Tepco is considering, said Tatsuya Shinkawa, nuclear accident response director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, at a news conference last month. The water could pool dangerously underground, softening the earth and potentially toppling the reactor buildings, he said. [...] [ link to online.wsj.com] [ link to enenews.com] |