Fukushima unit 2 liquification of uranium core. never seen before in history of nuclear power

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[yank in the UK]

Unit 2 we now know completely liquified. We’ve never seen this before in the history of nuclear power. A 100% liquification of a uranium core.

[ctdonath2]

“liquified” - became a liquid. No implication of whether it remained that way after that occurrence.

[UCANSEE2]

Anybody smart enough to know what the ramifications are?

Smart enough? I got good grades in Science while in publik skools, so I might almost qualify.

We may be 'bothered' about it, but to the planet Earth, the effect would be about the same as pissing in the ocean.

There are volcanic vents in the ocean bottom, and yet you never see the ocean boil away.

[fishtank]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corium_(nuclear_reactor)

[fishtank]

I can’t get it to link.

Just google “Corium wiki”.

[dfwgator]

That doesn’t sound good at all. Anybody smart enough to know what the ramifications are?

I'm afraid it could mean 9/11 times a thousand.

[GOPJ]

Many Russians gave their lives to stop that corium flow. Would suggest we do not forget them. They probably wont forget us.

They are not forgotten...

[TXnMA]

I have seen no references to it in the present tense, as in "is liquified" or "is liquid" or "is molten".

Since liquifaction of a core requires humungous amounts of energy, and the melt readily dissolves all sorts of foreign materials, (pressure vessel, concrete, etc.) maintaining the liquid state is highly improbable. So is maintaining the core in a single, compact mass, which is required for criticality. The energy to achieve and sustain liquifaction has three possible sources:

1. Criticality -- which is easily damped by dilution or fragmentation of the (liquid) reaction mass.

2. Heat from decay of (short lifetime) fission products -- by definition, declining rapidly over time -- especially after criticality ceases.

3. Ancillary exothermic chemical reactions, which are, by definition, of short duration.

The likelihood of maintaining a core in the liquid state for an extended period of time is slim to none.

Hanoi Jane should have kept her butt on the seat of that commie AAA piece -- because "The China Sydrome" is pure Bravo Sierra!!.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Liquified" -- PAST Tense...

[TXnMA]

"I'm afraid it could mean 9/11 times a thousand."

You "outed" yourself in the first two words...

Ignorant fear is not appropriate...

[dfwgator]

It was a “Team America” reference.

[TXnMA]

Thanks for the corium photos!

BTW, the correct term is "formerly molten".

Did you ever see a liquid "stand still" -- in the form of a "waterfall" for years?

Besides, if that corium were still "molten", that pipe (and the floor) would be long gone...

Just like the Reactor 2 case, "WAS liquified" -- PAST tense...

~~~~~~~~~~

And, yes, those Russians are definitely some heroic and ballsy folks!! And the Japanese who are in there with that mess are right up there with them...

[TXnMA]

"...It is on it's way, and we don't know if it will ever get to the center, and even if it did due to atomic weight, it might take several thousand years...."

That is probably the most ignorant, scaremongering and flat-@$$3d WRONG statement made on FR in many a year. Where did you "learn" "physics" -- from Hanoi Jane? Or Al Gore?

[TXnMA]

O

K
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.
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[TXnMA]

BTW, my criticism in #130 wasn't aimed at you. I know you "get it"...

I was just reinforcing that the once-molten core in #2 has solidified again -- just as at Chernobyl...

[rottndog]

A couple of really good documentaries about Chernobyl and the search for the missing fuel:

BBC NOVA Suicide Mission To Chernobyl 1991

Inside Chernobyl's Sarcophagus - BBC Horizon

And this is a pretty good rundown on what led to the reactor explosion:

Seconds From Disaster - S01E07 - Meltdown In Chernobyl


45 min to an hour each, but very well worth the time if you want a fairly good grasp of Chernobyl.

[rottndog]

};o)

[ichabod1]

Godzilla!

[ichabod1]

It’s all our fault for not letting them have their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

[cuban leaf]

—It’s all our fault for not letting them have their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.—

Oh great. Now I have GUILT!

[dfwgator]

If it makes you feel any better, we gave it to China.

[ichabod1]

It’s the not knowing... the dead that died that day are dead. You can count’em, bury’em, whatever, they’re done. But the terror associated with radiation poisoning, and not knowing what’s going to happen this week or next is ripe for creating irrational fears and phobias. Add to it that it happens in a culture that has already experienced the big one, TWICE, and I can understand.