"Panel: TEPCO’s ‘Ice Wall’ Failing At Fukushima Nuclear Plant"

"Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s 'frozen wall of earth' has failed to prevent groundwater from entering the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, and the utility needs a new plan to address the problem, experts said.

An expert panel with the Nuclear Regulation Authority received a report from TEPCO on the current state of the project on Aug. 18. The experts said the ice wall project, almost in its fifth month, has shown little or no success.

'The plan to block groundwater with a frozen wall of earth is failing,' said panel member Yoshinori Kitsutaka, a professor of engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University. 'They need to come up with another solution, even if they keep going forward with the plan.'"

Kohei Tomita reports for the Asahi Shimbun August 19, 2016.