Other than resident experts how many following the nuclear crisis in Japan are

[snagglepuss]

aware that the storage pools for spent rods are 6 floors above the reactor? A standard design worldwide. It's what happens to these radioactive rods in the event of a meltdown that is the cause of so much concern.

snip

There are hundreds of tons of irradiated nuclear fuel in rod forms that could collapse, catch fire and release immense amounts of curies of radiation to the atmosphere and around the Northern Hemisphere, a catastrophic event.”

- Paul Gunter, Director, Dir., Reactor Oversight Project, Beyond Nuclear - snip from Earthfiles

----------------


After 9-11 Congress requested a study to determine what would happen if a terrorist attack lead to the loss of coolant in storage polls however the same dangers apply if the coolant is lost due to a natural disaster. The study which avoids jargon is very illuminating.

snip

The congressional request for this study was prompted by conflicting public claims about the safety and security of commercial spent nuclear fuel storage at nuclear power plants. Some have argued that the dense packing used for storing spent fuel in cooling pools at nearly every nuclear power plant does not provide a sufficient safety margin in the event of a pool breach and consequent water loss from an accident or terrorist attack.3 In such cases, the potential exists for the fuel most recently discharged from a reactor to heat up sufficiently for its zirconium cladding to ignite, possibly resulting in the release of large amounts of radioactivity to the environment (Alvarez et al., 2003a). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s own analyses have suggested that such zirconium cladding fires and releases of radioactivity are possible (e.g., USNRC, 2001 a).



http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11263&page=12

[jpak]

1. Ssssshhhh - you're not suppose to tell people that

yup

[snagglepuss]

2. I only discovered that when someone posted the link to Earthfiles.

I had to google to confirm that bit of info because I couldn't believe no reports that I've seen mentioned these storage pools.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jpak]

5. No - if that were the case, they would have abandoned the entire plant complex

n/t

[snagglepuss]

7. When it is reported that reactors aren't getting coolent , is it simply assumed that

the storage pools don't have coolent or are the coolants in storage pools easier to refill (for lack of a better word)?

[jpak]

8. I do agree - more cluster to teh clusterfuck

I'm sorry if that offends our nucular priestesshood

not

[snagglepuss]

6. I can't find anything out about the status of the rods or the storage pools.

Hopefully someone else might be able to answer that.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. The pools are quite a bit easier to maintain than the core.

Lot less pumping power, for one. I would be SHOCKED if they didn't have the storage pools well in hand.

[xoxoFascistMod4u]

11. easier to maintain?

in the form of a misty dust cloud?
like, just get out the vaccuum?

[AtheistCrusader]

13. They weren't blown out.

Unless you're seeing something in the news that I am not.

Pretty sure we would know, if that had happened.

[joshcryer]

15. To the reactor people it probably isn't worth mentioning the state of the pools.

Question is has anyone asked them about it and if they gave a concrete answer.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jpak]

4. After 9/11, it was revealed that New Jersey BWRs were vulnerable in this respect

yup

[FBaggins]

12. Do you consider earthfiles to be a good source for information?

If so... Do you think we could get the aliens to help us with this situation?

[joshcryer]

14. Here's an image of the reactor:

You can see the storage pool on the left side of the reactor at the top.

It would be surprising if it wasn't affected. However, they're covering the whole shebang with water so hopefully this issue is being overblown.

[FBaggins]

16. I don't think there's any question that the storage pools are there.

The problem wasn't describing the layout of the plany any more than the problem with their "Nuclear fallout map" wasn't that they mislabeled Japan and the U.S. (see below). The problem was the claim that "There are hundreds of tons of irradiated nuclear fuel in rod forms that could collapse, catch fire and release immense amounts of curies of radiation to the atmosphere"

I was just pointing out that they weren't exactly the most authoritative source on reality.