Fukushima leaks: Japan pledges $470m for 'ice wall' - Polidicks

[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69609000/jpg/_69609474_7cf7f745-fcd6-4b97-96ca-c87cc4caaf8e.jpg[/img] [quote]Japan is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into building a frozen wall around the Fukushima nuclear plant to stop leaks of radioactive water. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said an estimated 47bn yen ($473m, £304m) would be allocated. The leaks were getting worse and the government "felt it was essential to become involved to the greatest extent possible", Mr Suga said. The plant was crippled by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. [/quote] [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23940214]**SOURCE**[/url] I have been waiting [b]YEARS[/b] for this announcement. Essentially what will be done is bore holes will be drilled around the site and liquid nitrogen will be forced in to effectively prevent contamination of the surrounding groundwater and waterfront by trapping it with a wall of ice. Sounds pretty high tech, right? It isn't. In the [b]DAYS[/b] following the Chernobyl incident the soviets had already begun the same process of freezing the ground. Sampling now shows that this prevented most if any groundwater contamination from leaving the site and most likely saved the aquifer and nearby river which would of become contaminated almost its entire length. I'm not blaming science. I'm not blaming some reactor design and I'm not blaming some earthquake. I'm blaming the Japanese. They had so much fucking time to get their ass in gear and now it's far too late. Whatever the ground has sucked up now will be leeching out for thousands of years. There is no viable way to excavate, treat and store that much (well over ten million cubic feet) contaminated soil. In the first place they should of been lining their tanks.

So why exactly did it take so long? Is it because Tepco kept trying to save face and downplay the severity of the problem?

Right on time i guess :suicide:

So how much land approximately (km x km) is going to have to be quarantined and for how long? I mean you're not allowed to live near Chernobyl even now, right?

Hey Japan, you're late.

Welp it's good to know that Soviet engineers in the 80's were better prepared for dealing with this than 21st century Japan. What happened to learning from the past?

So we in Portugal can't have nuclear power because of earthquake risk, yet Japan has 22 reactors. Oh the irony.

Anyone else immediately think of Game of Thrones when they saw the phrase "ice wall"?

[QUOTE=Madlib;42062720]Anyone else immediately think of Game of Thrones when they saw the phrase "ice wall"?[/QUOTE] No

I honestly imagined they were going to build some massive refrigeration device to freeze the coast around the plant and create a wall of ice that way at first

I drank from a water fountain in Fukushima-prefecture last week. Does this mean I will die?

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;42062938]I drank from a water fountain in Fukushima-prefecture last week. Does this mean I will die?[/QUOTE] Eventually.

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;42062938]I drank from a water fountain in Fukushima-prefecture last week. Does this mean I will die?[/QUOTE] Do you feel any superpowers yet? Yes - You will not die No - How are you alive

Welp. Better start terraforming Mars.

Yikes; now we have another hazard zone. Poor reaction to the crisis plus archaic reactor design equals a cursed province that future inhabitants will need to be wary of for millennia to come.

Thanks Japan, [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6u7Ck0W2rjQ/T4YEYVMgFUI/AAAAAAAAKKQ/X5t0iqY1754/s320/60729181.jpg[/img] thanks.

That's the tsunami height.

[QUOTE=TurbisV2;42062735]No[/QUOTE] I did... Why the hell is everyone rating him dumb? There are always posts like that on news threads. Does Facepunch suddenly hate Game of Thrones or something?

[QUOTE=Lanopo;42063563]Thanks Japan, [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6u7Ck0W2rjQ/T4YEYVMgFUI/AAAAAAAAKKQ/X5t0iqY1754/s320/60729181.jpg[/img] thanks.[/QUOTE] [url=http://www.noaa.gov/features/03_protecting/japantsunami_oneyearlater.html]One of the articles that had this map[/url] said this specifically: [quote=NOAA]It does NOT represent levels of radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Lanopo;42063563]Thanks Japan, [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6u7Ck0W2rjQ/T4YEYVMgFUI/AAAAAAAAKKQ/X5t0iqY1754/s320/60729181.jpg[/img] thanks.[/QUOTE] Watch out for those 20cm radiation waves California!! [editline]3rd September 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Zatar963;42063729]Does Facepunch suddenly hate Game of Thrones or something?[/QUOTE] The Hivemind strikes again. For the Overlord!