3 ms·
> sometimes control rods will drop into the reactor accidentally. In these cases, the automatic system may withdraw other rods in order to maintain power output
by solarkraft 2mo ago
> sometimes control rods will drop into the reactor accidentally. In these cases, the automatic system may withdraw other rods in order to maintain power output
So this suggests that the dead man's switch has an automated anti-dead-man's switch that may result in more danger?
It'd be an interesting design choice, but defendable, if the "accidental dropping" rate is too high.
Safety wise, it would seem more sensible to try to keep the automatic drops unchallenged and try to prevent the conditions that make it happen.
- s1artibartfast 2mo agoYou should write them an email suggesting they try to prevent unintended rod drops
- heybales 2mo agoSomething, something... We cannot allow a rod drop gap!
- consensus1 2mo agoYou may even get a reply from Homer Simpson. I hear he's in charge of that sort of thing
- numpad0 2mo agoFission reactors are ran by pulling rods out just enough to keep the system at a state of equilibrium. If one of rods accidentally goes in, for any reason, the nuclear chain reaction therefore heat generation will slowly reduce. If there was also an automatic system that wasn't aware of that rod going in, it wouldn't be so weird that it will try to fight the fire suddenly dying down.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- chippiewill 2mo agoNuclear reactors are in a delicate balance, they are in constant feedback loops that means an unexpected power drop or an unexpected rise can cascade. The withdrawal of the others rods is not specifically in response to one being dropped in accidentally - it will be in response to the drop in the power output. There's not a safety risk from doing this because the control systems are doing this to specifically stay within the stable power output. There are some significant negative consequences from the power dropping excessively and unexpectedly. One of them is an excessive build-up of Xenon in the reactor which is a feedback loop that continues to reduce fission (known as Xenon poisoning) and is one of the underlying causes of the Chernobyl incident. Now, as far as I'm aware there are no Nuclear reactors running today that are _unsafe_ if they encounter Xenon poisoning - but it's not something you want to stumble into. If there were a genuine safety concern related to a control rod drop then the reactor would scram and the _all_ the rods would drop and the reactor would need to be restarted.
- amelius 2mo agoI think an occasional rod drop might be used as a test for the system, so there's no real need to prevent them.