[meteorite-list] Not to worry. Nukes are good?
From: almitt2 at localnet.com <almitt2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2011 07:06:20 -0400 Message-ID: <20110313070620.lf8ndyydhu04gsoo_at_webmail.localnet.com> Greetings Sterling and all, Last OT post for me here, right or wrong. My information comes from a Cook Nuclear Scientist who gave our astronomy group a program topic a few years back. No doubt I can't remember exactly what he said and my information may need updating. How ever one thing he did mention was with the use of water as a moderator, was a safety feature that would prevent a melt down. No water no reaction. Cited is a Wikipedia article. It mentions graphite moderator componets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster This event exposed the graphite moderator components of the reactor to air and they ignited; Perhaps it was the compents that warped and the rods couldn't be moved, locking them in and allowing the core meltdown. In any case it was a dangerous mess and your right the Japanese system works different.Hope they get things under control. --AL Mitterling Quoting "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>: > List, > > Al Mitterling pulled Chernobyl into this. Chernobyl > was a graphite "pile" with pressurized water cooling > and with NO containment vessel. In a graphite pile, > graphite is NOT a control material and the control > rods were not graphite rods. Fukushima is not a graphite > pile; Chernobyl is irrelevant to the Fukushima discussion. > And the suggestion that correct procedure for a water- > moderated reactor is let it boil off and expose the core > to a meltdown is ludicrous. > > Graphite is a "moderator." The moderator makes the > chain reaction happen. Moderators are substances that slow > the velocity of neutrons down until they are "thermalized," > or moving with the kinetic energy of room temperature. > In the case of a neutron, that is the speed of an old man > crossing his living room (or me on a bad day). > > Sterling K. Webb Received on Sun 13 Mar 2011 07:06:20 AM PDT |
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