Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced today that they are going to utilize an underwater silt fence in an attempt to stem the tide of radiation contaminated water at Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Ai Ichi Nuclear Power Plant.

“A silt fence ensures that mud down deep doesn’t seep through,” Hidehiko Nishiyama, Japan’s spokesman on nuclear safety, said in Tokyo. The barrier may take “several days” to install and will “ensure that water doesn’t leak from the area in front of the No. 2 reactor’s intake duct and the conduit.” Source: Bloomberg

The form of silt fence that is being used at the nuclear reactor is most likely known in the industry as a turbidity barrier or turbidity curtain.   A turbidity curtain is flexible, impermeable barrier used to trap sediment in water bodies. This curtain is generally weighted at the bottom to ensure that sediment does not travel under the curtain which is supported at the top through a flotation system.

Below is a schematic of a similar turbidity barrier designed to capture oil vs. radiation, but I would imagine that the installation in this case is very similar.

Sample of Turbidity Curtain Deployment

Source: www.gunderboom.com