Speaking Of Incompetence
The CBC reports on the latest TEPCO screw-up: New effort to plug radioactive leak at Japan plant
Engineers tried to seal the crack with concrete on Saturday, but that didn’t work. So on Sunday they injected a mix of sawdust, shredded newspaper and a polymer that can expand to 50 times its normal size when combined with water. The polymer mix had not yet stopped the leak Sunday night but engineers have not given up hope and should know by Monday morning whether it will work.
Apparently they were inspired by BP’s “junk shot”.
Before a red oak took it out during one of out little storms, my Mother had a concrete water garden. Because of settling the concrete would crack and the water would begin to leak out. To repair it I used the same product that is used routinely in cold climates to repair cracks in basements that allow groundwater in. Whether you are attempting to keep water in or water out, it is the same product.
This miracle product is called expansive hydraulic cement. It sets under water, and unlike regular Portland cement which shrinks, it expands to seal the leak. You make it thicker than regular cement when applying under water to push it in place without worrying about it being washed out. If you are sealing something like my Mother’s pond or the sump of a nuclear reactor the water pressure will hold it in place for setting.
I am not aware of a hardware store that doesn’t have it stock.
