Japan says Fukushima leak worse than thought, government joins clean-up - wants to freeze the soil

[muriel_volestrangler]

(Reuters) - Highly radioactive water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is pouring out at a rate of 300 tonnes a day, officials said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up.
...
The Nikkei newspaper said the funds would be used to freeze the soil to keep groundwater out of reactor buildings - a project estimated to cost up to 40 billion yen ($410 million).
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Similar technology is used in subway construction, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the vast scale of Tepco's attempt was "unprecedented in the world."
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Experts say maintaining the ground temperatures for months or years would be costly. The plan is to freeze a 1.4 km (nearly one mile) perimeter around the four damaged reactors by drilling shafts into the ground and pumping coolant through them.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/07/us-japan-fukushima-pm-idUSBRE97601K20130807

[Safetykitten]

1. Where are all the experts? The ones that said that they "have it under control". *crickets*

[nebenaube]

2. out getting the most out of their remaining time... n/t