After various worldwide news sources discovered the leaking of contaminated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant was worse than previously known, the Japanese government has pledged to create an “ice wall” that will stop damage to the environment.

The “wall” would be a series of pipes placed in the ground that will contain coolant materials aimed at freezing the Earth around the facility. Government scientists believe this will keep radioactive water from seeping into the groundwater or flowing into the ocean.

A government spokesman said the project would cost $47 billion yen ($473 million U.S.)

A recent discovery of a leaking water containment unit resulted in the classification of the site being raised from level one to level three on the seven step world nuclear event scale. This is the highest level since the level seven designation when three of the cores melted down as a result of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

300 tons of radioactive water leaked from the containment unit before it was discovered by a roving inspection team.