Part of the “frozen soil retaining wall” of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is heating up abnormally
2021-10-30 10:11:00Source: Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, October 29. According to a Japanese media report on the 29th, the underground temperature in part of the “frozen soil retaining wall” built around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to control nuclear sewage has risen abnormally, reaching a maximum of more than 10 degrees Celsius. Tokyo Electric Power Company stated that the current abnormal temperature rise has not yet affected the function of the retaining wall to block the inflow of groundwater and is investigating the cause.
The topography of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is high in the west and low in the east, and the east faces the Pacific Ocean. In order to prevent groundwater from continuing to flow into the ground of the building where the nuclear power plant is located, the Tokyo Electric Power Company opened a construction week around units 1 to 4 of the nuclear power plant in June 2014. The “frozen soil retaining wall” is about 1.5 kilometers long. The construction method is to insert 1568 freezing pipes into a depth of 30 meters underground at a distance of 1 meter, and then inject frozen materials, and use a freezer to cool it to minus 30 degrees Celsius, thereby freezing the surrounding ground and forming a frozen soil barrier.
According to reports on the 29th in the electronic version of Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, since the middle of last month, the temperature of part of the “frozen soil retaining wall” near Unit 4 of the nuclear power plant has continued to exceed zero degrees, and the highest has exceeded 10 degrees Celsius. However, the thickness of the retaining wall is about 10 meters. The Tokyo Electric Power Company said that the water level difference between the inside and outside of the wall has not changed significantly, indicating that the abnormal temperature rise has not yet affected the function of blocking the inflow of groundwater.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said it is investigating the cause of the problem. This is the first time the underground temperature has risen since the “frozen soil retaining wall” was fully opened in 2017.
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