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ET Stays On The Reactor Case... | 361 comments (361 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 1)
NHK WORLD English
Japan's nuclear safety watchdog says it believes radioactive elements from melted nuclear fuel have found their way from one of the reactors at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant to a turbine building here.

Radiation levels 100,000 times that found in water in an normally operating reactor were detected in water puddles in the Number 2 reactor's turbine building on Sunday. High radiation figures were earlier recorded at similar locations at the Number 1 and 3 reactors.

The Nuclear Safety Commission, an independent body, says the radiation level at the Number 2 reactor was dozens of times that of the other two reactors.

The commission says that radioactive substances from temporarily melted fuel rods at the Number 2 reactor had made their way into water in the containment vessel and then somehow leaked out.


Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 07:57:46 AM EST
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 0)
ceebs:
believes radioactive elements from melted nuclear fuel have found their way
What obfuscation...

So, in what may be my last act of "advising", I'll advise you to cut the jargon. -- My old PhD advisor, to me, 26/2/11
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 08:37:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (4.00 / 2)
I particularly like the line about "temporarily melted" fuel rods.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 08:52:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 1)
When they cool down they solidify...

So, in what may be my last act of "advising", I'll advise you to cut the jargon. -- My old PhD advisor, to me, 26/2/11
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 08:56:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (4.00 / 2)
Corium?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 09:05:50 AM EST
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Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 1)
I suppose the
radioactive substances from temporarily melted fuel rods at the Number 2 reactor had made their way into water in the containment
is meant to indicate that the fuel rods did melt at some point, releaseing radioactive substances, but have since cooled down so no more radionuclides are being added to the water.

The real problem here is that radioactive water outside the reactor indicates both 1) a meltdown; 2) a failure of "wet containment" (the "torus" in a Mark I design).

So, in what may be my last act of "advising", I'll advise you to cut the jargon. -- My old PhD advisor, to me, 26/2/11

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 09:15:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 0)
Yeah, but by then they hardly qualify as "fuel rods" any more.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 09:44:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (4.00 / 3)
Ok so reactors more complex than BWR's have their control rods held up by electromagnets, so if power fails, the rods fall into the rod assemblys and reaction is shut down, With BWR's they are forced up from the bottom. So say your fuel melts in a PWR reactor, then as the fuel melts into a puddle your control rods collapse into the mix as they are unsupported.and so continue to a degree to moderate the reaction. You would assume that the control rods in a BWR have to be held fairly rigidly to enable fuel loading, its not like you can go in and shake the control rods so that you can fit the gaps in the fuel assembly if one isnt ligned up properly.

If it works then like I think, then the more the fuel has melted, then the less moderation will occur, its like the control rods have been pulled back out of the reactor, and all of the  fuel rods have been pressed together.

If so I just don't see how this situation can ever be brought back under control.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 10:54:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 1)
I think the control rods melt along with the fuel rods.

What are the control rods made of?

So, in what may be my last act of "advising", I'll advise you to cut the jargon. -- My old PhD advisor, to me, 26/2/11

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 11:03:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (4.00 / 2)
Boron Carbide apparently, Melts at 2763 °C

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 11:06:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 1)
Hmm, Zirconium melts at 1855C...

So, in what may be my last act of "advising", I'll advise you to cut the jargon. -- My old PhD advisor, to me, 26/2/11
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 11:10:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 1)
Thats what I was thinking

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 11:11:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ET Stays On The Reactor Case... (none / 0)
High-level radiation in trench water may have come from reactor core | Kyodo News

The electric power company, known as TEPCO, said the high radiation level in water in the trench connected to the No. 2 complex was detected Sunday, adding the radiation level in the air of the trench stood at 100 to 300 millisieverts.

TEPCO also found a trench connected to the No. 1 reactor building was filled with radioactive water on Sunday afternoon.

The radiation level at the surface of the trench water adjacent to the No. 1 complex was 0.4 millisievert per hour but the level could not be measured at the gutter linked to the No. 3 unit as rubble prevented the firm from checking it, the company added.

Although it remains unknown whether the contaminated water has flowed into the sea from the trenches that are 55 to 70 meters away from the shore, TEPCO suspects the high concentration of radioactive substances found in seawater near the plant reactors' drainage outlets may be linked to the trench water.



Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 at 09:53:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

ET Stays On The Reactor Case... | 361 comments (361 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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