10-11-2013, 07:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-11-2013, 07:58 AM by Peter Lemkin.)
Just to add some explanation to those dire [and likely correct!] warnings of how easily/likely something horrible will go wrong.
The spent fuel rod assembly pool for unknown reasons was built near the TOP of the building....i.e. it is way above ground, supported by steel beams. All of the supports have been weakened, bent, maybe corroded by the earthquake, tsunami and the explosions in the building and nearby buildings. That's bad enough and could collapse [the entire containment pool - if it does - bye bye Tokyo and most of the N. Hemisphere]. Another earthquake could happen at ANY time and I've heard TEPCO say nothing about reinforcing the structure. Next, there is the problem of keeping all the fuel rods under water. This is for two reasons. The first is to keep them cool - so the water must be circulating with cool water coming in. If they overheat [the radioactivity produces heat] they will melt and either release their radiation or if many melt they may produce a meltdown situation - the later is almost too horrible to think about and again bye bye Tokyo and much of the N. Hemisphere. Also, if the rod assemblies are exposed to the air for more than a few minutes the metal cladding is a VERY special metal [zirconium] that spontaneously ignites in air - burning furiously and melting the radioactive pellets inside - releasing more radiation and perhaps damaging surrounding rods or the containment pool. There are other possible problems mentioned - the physical breakage of a rod assembly [I think they have 5-6 rods in each assembly] when moving them from the containment pool to what amounts to a giant water-filled coffin, to then be moved by crane to the ground and then to burial somewhere where the reverse process must again take place and there is a second chance to break the rods or set them on fire. Gundersen is likely correct - some of the fuel rods, which are many meters long, are bent and can not be pulled out like a single piece of spaghetti in a bundle of spaghetti. What they do when one jams or is broken when pulled, I really don't know. They have few choices and all are bad. At best, all the radiation in those rods will be released; at worst it could ignite and melt and melt others and the entire pool could go into meltdown. Add to this another earthquake [likely] collapsing the pool, and one has the makings of wonderful horror film...but it will be real......and bad - almost beyond imagination. Its a game of nuclear pick-up-sticks! :
tampfeet::*Amazing how little attention this is getting in the good 'ol reliable MSM! The BBC had an interview with a man from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission [which is 100% pro-nuke] say how sure he was it would go off without a hitch..they had no one counter that statement - such evenhanded journalism! 
The spent fuel rod assembly pool for unknown reasons was built near the TOP of the building....i.e. it is way above ground, supported by steel beams. All of the supports have been weakened, bent, maybe corroded by the earthquake, tsunami and the explosions in the building and nearby buildings. That's bad enough and could collapse [the entire containment pool - if it does - bye bye Tokyo and most of the N. Hemisphere]. Another earthquake could happen at ANY time and I've heard TEPCO say nothing about reinforcing the structure. Next, there is the problem of keeping all the fuel rods under water. This is for two reasons. The first is to keep them cool - so the water must be circulating with cool water coming in. If they overheat [the radioactivity produces heat] they will melt and either release their radiation or if many melt they may produce a meltdown situation - the later is almost too horrible to think about and again bye bye Tokyo and much of the N. Hemisphere. Also, if the rod assemblies are exposed to the air for more than a few minutes the metal cladding is a VERY special metal [zirconium] that spontaneously ignites in air - burning furiously and melting the radioactive pellets inside - releasing more radiation and perhaps damaging surrounding rods or the containment pool. There are other possible problems mentioned - the physical breakage of a rod assembly [I think they have 5-6 rods in each assembly] when moving them from the containment pool to what amounts to a giant water-filled coffin, to then be moved by crane to the ground and then to burial somewhere where the reverse process must again take place and there is a second chance to break the rods or set them on fire. Gundersen is likely correct - some of the fuel rods, which are many meters long, are bent and can not be pulled out like a single piece of spaghetti in a bundle of spaghetti. What they do when one jams or is broken when pulled, I really don't know. They have few choices and all are bad. At best, all the radiation in those rods will be released; at worst it could ignite and melt and melt others and the entire pool could go into meltdown. Add to this another earthquake [likely] collapsing the pool, and one has the makings of wonderful horror film...but it will be real......and bad - almost beyond imagination. Its a game of nuclear pick-up-sticks! :
tampfeet::*Amazing how little attention this is getting in the good 'ol reliable MSM! The BBC had an interview with a man from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission [which is 100% pro-nuke] say how sure he was it would go off without a hitch..they had no one counter that statement - such evenhanded journalism!
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass