Potential For Precautionary Volcano Shields

A working group proposes building protective shields on Grindavík and Svartsengi prior to an eruption, reports RÚV.

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The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management held a meeting with their working group in Grindavík to discuss the unrest on the Reykjanes peninsula.

The meeting was attended by professors, police and rescue personnel, civil protection, representatives of municipalities and companies in the region, and engineers. The working group was formed at the beginning of March 2021 to build proposals that focus on disaster protection and prevention.

Part of the working group’s proposal includes building a shield on the volcanos to protect citizens from potential eruptions.

“What we have is open areas where the fissures stretch far and wide, so it is uncertain whether a protective barrier built before an eruption is on the right side of the eruption or on the wrong side,” says Björn Oddsson, an Icelandic Civil Protection geophysicist.

The group has proposed several large scale projects, but they urge that projects that need more immediate attention be the priority.

“Our proposal is also to look at a larger area here in Reykjanes, even over to Bláfjöll and Hengill, but that is a much bigger project,” says engineer Ari Guðmundsson.

“This is the beginning of a longer work that needs to be done,” says Björn.