TOKYO -- An underground ice wall built around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has so far been unable to block the flow of groundwater entering buildings and mixing with contaminated water.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, the owner of the plant and known as Tepco, plans to encircle four reactor buildings with a 1.5km barrier of frozen soil to prevent underground water from flowing under them. Work to freeze soil began six months ago and was partially completed in October. Further delays could affect the entire process of decommissioning the power plant.