jonblaze420
Well-Known Member
Spent fuel rod storage pools are scary to look at even when they're functioning at capacity.
Fukushima situation
- Thread starter AltarNation
- Start date
AltarNation
Well-Known Member
THe rods in question are unspent fuel that was ready to go into the reactor, from what I understand...Spent fuel rod storage pools are scary to look at even when they're functioning at capacity.
jonblaze420
Well-Known Member
I have questions that I can't find the answers to on the internet, possibly you know altar nation.
1.) Where can unspent fuel rods be stored?
2.) Can unspent fuel rods be stored in a boric acid and salt water pool, like the spent ones?
3.) Is the problem relocating these fuel rods to another facility in Japan?
Thanks.
1.) Where can unspent fuel rods be stored?
2.) Can unspent fuel rods be stored in a boric acid and salt water pool, like the spent ones?
3.) Is the problem relocating these fuel rods to another facility in Japan?
Thanks.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
One of the things I'm going on is how hard it is to distribute doses in real life. The toxicity of the fuel rods is based on the old rule of thumb that a microgram of plutonium is the deadly dose. So to kill 2.9 billion people, you'd have to start with 2.9 kilos of plutonium (a reasonable estimate of what's in a fuel rod or two) and then divide it into 2.9 billion aerosol inhalation doses. With a medical-style program like vaccinations in developing countries, it could be done. But a fuel rod catching fire or blowing up will distribute its load of toxics in a confined plume, and almost all of the poisons won't make it to a person. Since people have a natural tendency to go away from a disaster site, I doubt the death toll (including delayed cancers) would exceed a hundred from one rod being turned to dust. I'm not trying to cheapen such deaths, but there is a big difference between such a mishap and something global.
War gases are similarly toxic. Interestingly, one of the biggest problems in the design of chemical weapons is distribution, covering an area. To "cover" a target area of ten square miles requires a vast excess of poison over the few grams needed if delivery were efficient ... and that's for deliberate poisoning technology. Chernobyl released enough radiological poison to kill everything that ever lived ... but it didn't even come close. If Fukushima were somehow vaporized (terrorists? meteor strike?) , it would be a Chernobyl-scale regional disaster. The larger volume of radioactives would be balanced by the ocean swallowing most of the plume. cn
Corso312
Well-Known Member
there should be no nuclear energy anywhere..the bad far outweighs the good..i am a pipefitter and have worked in a few plants.... illinois has the most plants i believe and there is a fault line running through the state...it is just a very bad accident waiting to happen...no amount of planning by man could overcome a serious natural disaster by mother nature
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
Unused fuel rods are only weakly radioactive. You could case each one in a fairly thin lead tube, then just stack'em. If you're using plutonium fuel, there will be a problem with waste heat from alpha decay (it's why a plutonium bomb "pit" is warm to the touch) that can easily be handled with active cooling of the fuel storage area. (primitive cooling, like ordinary AC) cn
jonblaze420
Well-Known Member
Thanks, and that was interesting too.
Corso312
Well-Known Member
those poor fucks in japan are screwed ..wait and see in ten years the real damage that happened...the government is full of shit and lying to these people and trying not to start a panic...this should be a lesson learned that all nuclear plants need to be shut down forever ...i like the idea of sending that radioactive poison into space
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
I wish I knew what you said pre-edit.
cn
jonblaze420
Well-Known Member
An error in my comprehension skills made me refer to the show The X-Files.I wish I knew what you said pre-edit.
<edit> Not a specific episode, just that I was always left with more questions...
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
Since I didn't watch the show, I'd'a been left without a useful answer anyway. cn
Total Head
Well-Known Member
until some science guy can prove to me that there is no link between fukushima and all the unexplained dead sea things washing up on shores i'm going to keep my foil hat on standby.
hundreds of dead dolphins in peru, dozens of dead dolphins right here in massachusetts, along with some dead seals last fall that supposedly died from some kind of weird mysterious flu. i would have chalked it up to the oil spill but peru is a long way from the spill.
hundreds of dead dolphins in peru, dozens of dead dolphins right here in massachusetts, along with some dead seals last fall that supposedly died from some kind of weird mysterious flu. i would have chalked it up to the oil spill but peru is a long way from the spill.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
You know it's impossible to prove a negative, right?
That said, unexplained dead sea things, singly and in droves, are as old as history ... cn
Total Head
Well-Known Member
my concern generally has to do with the "unexplainable" part. if 800 dead dolphins wash up in one country in such a short time, i want it explained, particularly if it occurs soon after a disaster. maybe it's from the disaster or maybe some sailors just emptied their toilets into the sea and poisoned 'em. we ought to be able to figure it out is all. the inability to offer an explaination is what bothers me, especially since these incidents are out of the ordinary.