Fukushima Nuclear Plant Operator Throws Switch For Ice Wall Around Damaged Reactors

The operator of Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant gave radioactive water flowing from the reactors the big chill Thursday, switching on a giant underground refrigeration system to create an ice wall around the damaged reactors to prevent groundwater contamination, The Associated Press reported. The nuclear plant, damaged in an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, has been working on a plan to decontaminate and decommission the plant and the ice wall is key to that plan. Engineers installed 1,550 underground refrigeration pipes to create a 0.9-mile barrier of frozen soil around four damaged reactor buildings and their turbines to control groundwater flowing into the area and prevent...