BBC: Tokyo Electric Power Co may try too cool reactor by helicopter

[brooklynite]

Dropping water from above...

I realize there aren't a lot of good options here, but gravity and force being what they are, this seems likely to splatter radioactive material around the structure.

Add to that, the water is likely to create steam, presumably rising back up towards the helicopter...

[Lars39]

1. Act of sheer desperation.

:cry:

[Bonobo]

2. Link?

[godai]

7. MSNBC - Japan may ask US helicopters to drop water.

Chris Jansing in Japan.

[itsrobert]

3. Operated by Homer Simpson?

Doh!

[sharp_stick]

4. Dropping water on what?

Do you have a link for this, I can't find anything at BBC. This "plan" sounds about as stupid as spitting on the damned thing?

Unless the primary and secondary containment vessels were both exposed to the atmosphere from above this would likely have no effect at all. If they were exposed to the atmosphere from above the entire region would be seriously fucked anyhow and this would have no effect other than to produce a bit more steam.

[brooklynite]

6. BBC live blog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Best thought I have is that this is where the building was damaged but the steel containment was (hopefully) not. The containment dome is heating up because of the heat inside; dropping water on the outside will hopefully cool it down and prevent a breach.

[sharp_stick]

10. Ahh it's the pool not the core n/t

[dkofos]

5. And when that fails they will ask the people to piss on it.

[Aerows]

8. Didn't they do something similar at Chernobyl?

I know they dumped sand and concrete to seal it, but I believe that was also used to cool it.

I pray for the people of Japan, and I'm not a religious woman. I went through Katrina at ground zero, I couldn't imagine having Katrina along with a nuclear accident. Having no water for 3 weeks and no electricity for 5 weeks seems like small potatoes considering what they are going through :(.

[meow mix]

9. and the nuke industry clothes come off, they are helpless

arrogant fucks

[Statistical]

11. I believe it is to use helicopters to refill the spent fuel ponds not the reactor itself.

The spent fuel isn't under pressure and doesn't produce as much heat but it is evaporating the water in its cooling pond. If the fuel rods remain uncovered for long enough they will ignite, melt, and burst. So the ponds need to be refilled to replace water loss by fuel heating the water in pond.


Details are sketchy but rather divert water from the pumps cooling the reactors the plan would be to use helicopters to refill the pools.

[Aerows]

12. In a crisis

You do what you can. If you have ever lived through a large-scale disaster, you know that you are pretty much at the whims of whatever is left standing, and whatever means you have left available.