3 ms·
Update: A meltdown at this point is possible, since the decay heat is pretty significant. However, as long as the core remains submerged, it shouldn't be an iss
by aperiodic 16y ago
Update: A meltdown at this point is possible, since the decay heat is pretty significant. However, as long as the core remains submerged, it shouldn't be an issue. In the worst case, you could more or less stick a hose into the primary system (one of the chief reasons that the Three Mile Island meltdown occurred is that the operators were unaware of the falling water levels in the core).
The main concern at this point is definitely the steam pressure.
- midnightmagic 16y agoI would like to point out the well-known at this time. This has turned out not to be a scare-mongering media-frenzy at all: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-... FTA: (Naoto Sekimura, a professor at Tokyo University, told NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, that “only a small portion of the fuel has been melted. But the plant is shut down already, and being cooled down. Most of the fuel is contained in the plant case, so I would like to ask people to be calm.”) Therefore, there has already been a partial meltdown. Your folks' anti-FUD was appreciated, but ultimately this is quite a bad accident after all, and at especially the Business Insider site article, not overblown or using incorrect verbage.