poto wrote: GIDGE wrote: poto wrote:The reactor itself at
Fukushima is a GE BWR Mark III reactor I believe. In the case of
a complete meltdown, they will open the valves designed to vent
steam and allow all the water to safely boil off. Then the fuel
rods themselves will melt and turn into a shallow pool in the
bottom of the containment vessel. Spreading it out will help it
cool. Then coolant will be pumped in to further cool it. This
will prevent the core from ever exploding and no significant
radiation will be released. After a while, the remnants of the
core will be collected and shipped to a reprocessing facility.
Of course, this worst-case is not going to happen as long as
they are able to keep pumping water into the reactors which they
have been able to do. Thanks for the explanation! It's my
understanding that the fuel used to power the pumps injecting
cool seawater into the reactor has been exhausted. Could this
potentially (probably) present a whole new set of (incredibly
dangerous) challenges - from