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...the worst case scenario could play out in death to billions of people.
Although fuel rod removal happens on a daily basis at the 430+ nuclear sites around the world, it is a very delicate procedure even under the best of circumstances. What makes fuel removal at Fukushima so dangerous and complex is that it will be attempted on a fuel pool whose integrity has been severely compromised. However, it must be attempted as Reactor 4 has the most significant problems structurally, and this pool is on the top floor of the building. There are numerous other reasons that this will be a dangerous undertaking.
- The racks inside the pool that contain this fuel were damaged by the explosion in the early days of the accident.
- Zirconium cladding which encased the rods burned when water levels dropped, but to what extent the rods have been damaged is not known, and probably won't be until removal is attempted.
- Saltwater cooling has caused corrosion of the pool walls, and probably the fuel rods and racks.
- The building is sinking.
- The cranes that normally lift the fuel were destroyed.
- Computer-guided removal will not be possible; everything will have to be done manually.
- TEPCO cannot attempt this process without humans, which will manage this enormous task while being
bombarded with radiation during the extraction and casking.
- The process of removing each rod will have to be repeated over 1,300 times without incident.
- Moving damaged nuclear fuel under such complex conditions could result in a criticality if the rods come into close proximity to one another, which would then set off a chain reaction that cannot be stopped.
What could potentially happen is the contents of the pool could burn and/or explode, and the entire structure sustain further damage or collapse. This chain reaction process could be self-sustaining and go on for a long time. This is the apocalyptic scenario in a nutshell.
\\Sorry, this just made me chuckle.
Originally posted by shaneslaughta
Edit: ET wont help us....we cant even get along as one race. Ask all you want but help will not come. We did this to ourselves and we alone have to deal with the outcome.
Originally posted by GeneralChaos
\\Sorry, this just made me chuckle.
Originally posted by shaneslaughta
Edit: ET wont help us....we cant even get along as one race. Ask all you want but help will not come. We did this to ourselves and we alone have to deal with the outcome.
I mean......how could you POSSIBLY know this as fact?
Did you mean to say "in my opinion....."?
It just fascinates me to no end how some people can make such empirical statements based on what appears to be their intimate knowledge of the morals, ethics, and modus operandi of each and every Alien civilization in the universe which currently or ever has existed since the beginning of time.
Wow.you're good.
Originally posted by wrabbit2000
Anyone else get the impression that people in Moscow and the RT Newsroom are going to be nearly ecstatic and celebrating if this place goes up? For god's sake, is there ANY remote possibility of a bad outcome they didn't mention? Well, I think they left out the remote chance of a meteorite striking the crane operator at the critical moment the fuel pod is in the air and out of cooling fluid around it. That would be bad too. Shame on them for leaving out a doom possibility.
Every effort at Fuku since the first "1 year plan" was formed and filed by TEPCO has been about this point. The removal of those fuel rods. That's the least of what we ought to be worried about because short of God himself smiting the place with a tornado or bolt of Zeus level lightning, they'll get those out okay.
It's the slag heaps we used to call reactor cores that really worry me....and again, damn, talk about focusing on the ABSOLUTE worst "everything imaginable went wrong with a couple that weren't imagined" scenario. If people only went by that article and knowing the topic real well outside it? I'd almost say some people at RT need counseling. Their near gleeful obsession with mass body counts is sick.
. But, if we are going to die anyway, we should probably start thinking quickly about using ever option, including a sincere worldwide effort to request help from beyond our planet, dimension, universe, whatever
Nuclear apocalypse -- Isn't it about time we call on ET for help?
Originally posted by redoubt
Nuclear apocalypse -- Isn't it about time we call on ET for help?
No.
But, for the moment, let's imagine that we did and they responded and the world was saved... now you have a new generation of gods you must serve.
Oh yes... the human race could not work itself through itself and as such... we're just not that worthy of respect. We're a second rate species that failed by requiring outside assistance in order to survive. In fact, we didn't even have the stones to stick to it until the end. We had to beg for help.
This is the same argument many use when approaching religion because it tells us that without god (or gods) we are doomed to failure. But even though we all know that we are an imperfect species, we have the drive and desire to rise above ourselves... like a child telling Mommy and Daddy he/she doesn't need their help to ride a bike without training wheels or to sit up alone all night for the first time.
No... we don't need ET's help. We need to grow the hell up and pull ourselves out of this mess ourselves... or die trying.