Posted on 03/16/2011 1:12:42 PM PDT by AnAmericanAbroad
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chief of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that all the water is gone from one of the spent fuel pools at Japan's most troubled nuclear plant, but Japanese officials denied it. If NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko is correct, this would mean there's nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and ultimately melting down. Read more at source.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
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Dear Experts:
We keep getting the runaround when we ask “what is the worst-case scenario,” so let me make it just a little more direct: If for some bizarre reason all the personnel working on the site abandoned their positions for 90 days (i.e., no one on-site), what would happen?
Good analysis. Where did that come from? One wonders, given the visuals we have of the plant housings exploding, whether the rods are even in the pools anymore (wet or dry), or whether, given the fact that they were located atop the reactors, they’ve been blown all over the plant.
No, not even locally is anyone ‘boned’ due to these pools - the ‘pools’ hold spent nuclear rods, which have an extremely small amount of energy left in them. However they too must be kept immersed in water, otherwise they will heat up enough to cause fairly mild problems - far different from that of the ‘fuel’ in the rods in the active reactors.
Many are uneducated and can’t think critically to reach a conclusion; therefore, they rely on emotion-based thought. Further, many do not understand science and the scientific method...further muddling their ability to make sense of anything. And further...there are ongoing supporters of nobama. Obviously they are susceptible to accept anything anyone bleats )if loud enough).
Clean it up?
How’s that cleanup going in Chernobyl?
ROFL
I’m not sure which way to take your comment. Is that in reference to my suggestion that it was a good analysis, or because you believe that analysis up to this point has been lacking?
>> Please find an academic resource to quote. Citing
>> Wikipedia would get me an F on any paper I write. I do not
>> consider it a credible source.
You did not cite ANY source in support of your original claim.
Re: those in an emotion-based end-of-times panic mode.
WOW just WOW
http://globaltravelerinternational.blogspot.com/2011/03/nhk-tokyo-japan-live-tv.html
Showing live footage of them dropping water
They are either VERY desperate or?
Those that you don't inhale, that is.
Apples and oranges. Stop and think for a minute. How much radioactive material is in a bomb, that gives off all it's energy in a split second, compared to the TONS of material in a nuclear power plant, that generates thousands of megawatts for years?
There has been some very good speculation in the threads here, based on the evidence we have so far, that the containment pools have cracked or are broken.
But all that means is that they will have to set up a flow of water, rather than just adding some water to 'top off" the system.
Uranium oxide melts at 3000 degrees. I don’t think spent fuel rods would get this hot. If it could, an open pool would not suffice as a cooling mechanism.
The main purpose of the storing the spent fuel rods in a water tank is water alone can moderate the radioactivity of spent fuel rods. That is, the water is more radiation shield than coolant.
Excellent description of zirconium ‘burning’. Simply excellent.
Exactly, a bomb contains what, maybe a few lbs (SWAG) and the reactors each have 350,000 lbs. The bombs are better at dispersing the materials remaining/generated during blast however.
“If true, the rods melt. Period.”
These are spent fuel rods. Much U fuel has been burned, they are removed because they don’t have much reactivity.
They are stored under water because water is cheaper shielding than lead.
They may heat up, but they won’t start a chain reaction and melt. A separate fire could ignite them, though, they are clad in zirconium which will burn if you try hard enough.
New fuel rods are actually more dangerous when underwater, they are set up for slow neutron criticality and require water for a moderator.
Prayers up anyway, those poor people are going through a very tough time.
Not so much so from the reactors, but IMO from the amount of material in the storage pools and no containment. Probably, many people really don't know and the ones who do aren't saying.
Let's hope and pray that it never gets so bad that they have to leave.
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