TEPCO places ice blocks in bid to freeze toxic water in trenches

TOKYO. KAZINFORM The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Monday it has placed tons of ice blocks in underground trenches at the complex in an attempt to freeze highly toxic water pooled there, a step seen as necessary before constructing a 1.5-kilometer ice wall to prevent radioactive water from further increasing.

Stopping the buildup of radioactive water in the trenches -- resulting from cooling water for reactors that suffered meltdowns in the 2011 nuclear crisis -- is seen one of the urgent tasks Tokyo Electric Power Co. needs to address.

Amid concerns about the spread of ocean pollution by the toxic water, TEPCO is struggling with the unprecedented attempt to freeze 1.5-km of soil around basement areas of the Nos. 1 to 4 reactor buildings, Kyodo reports.