[ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Corrosion of Fukushima's melted nuclear cores is releasing more plutonium

Fri Jun 6 12:15:49 CDT 2014

I think this is the most reliable statement in the post:

"there is no reliable way of predicting dissolution rates of damaged fuel
in water under the conditions of a nuclear accident, especially one like
Fukushima Daiichi in which fuel is exposed to hot or boiling seawater"

It doesn't mean they're right about the Pu, but since it can't be
predicted, it needs to be measured.

Just my opinion.

Tony Harrison, MSPH

Chemistry Deputy Program Manager

Laboratory Services Division

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

8100 Lowry Blvd.

Denver, CO  80230

303-692-3046 | tony.harrison at state.co.us

>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2014 03:41:09 -0700
> From: Roger Helbig <rwhelbig at gmail.com>
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Corrosion of Fukushima's melted
>         nuclear cores is releasing more plutonium
> To: RADSAFE <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> Message-ID:
>         <CALZ0NqX5veGKnnM5=
> zxy_vqHJt038YRQ-g8LZnNVB+dB7-ve_w at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Is this based on sound science?
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: nuclear-news <comment-reply at wordpress.com>
> Date: Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 11:42 PM
> Subject: [New post] Corrosion of Fukushima's melted nuclear cores is
> releasing more plutonium
> To: rwhelbig at gmail.com
>
>
> Christina MacPherson posted: "Study: Water helps dissolve Fukushima's
> melted nuclear cores, accelerates corrosion -- Plutonium concentrates
> on outer edge of fuel -- Poses "a much longer environmental threat"
> than initial releases -- Transport of nuclear material into environment
> to conti"
> Respond to this post by replying above this line
>
> New post on nuclear-news
>
> Corrosion of Fukushima's melted nuclear cores is releasing more plutonium
>
> by Christina MacPherson
>
> Study: Water helps dissolve Fukushima's melted nuclear cores,
> accelerates corrosion -- Plutonium concentrates on outer edge of fuel --
> Poses "a much longer environmental threat" than initial releases --
> Transport of nuclear material into environment to continue for many
> years if not isolated
>
> http://enenews.com/study-water-helps-dissolve-fukushimas-melted-nuclear-cores-accelerates-corrosion-plutonium-concentrates-outer-edge-fuel-poses-longer-environmental-threat-initial-releases-transport-nuclear-ma?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
>
> 'Nuclear Fuel in a Reactor Accident' -- Peter Burns, Rodney Ewing,
> Alexandra Navrotsky, 2012: Seawater was injected into the three active
> reactors [...] large amounts of salt may have deposited in the reactor
> cores. [...] Nonuniform burn-up in a fuel pellet gives higher
> concentrations of 239Pu near the pellet edge [...] the major potential
> pathway for continued release of radionuclides is through flowing
> water. [...] Many radionuclides form aqueous complexes that are soluble
> in water. Furthermore, water promotes dissolution of the rod/fuel
> matrix, which releases radionuclides [that] pose a much longer
> environmental hazard [...] The radiolytic breakdown of water creates
> oxidants (e.g., hydrogen peroxide) that can accelerate the oxidative
> corrosion of fuel [...] If the water is alkaline, soluble nanoscale
> uranyl peroxo cage clusters are likely to form and persist in
> solution. [...] there is no reliable way of predicting dissolution rates
> of damaged fuel in water under the conditions of a nuclear accident,
> especially one like Fukushima Daiichi in which fuel is exposed to hot
> or boiling seawater [...] an understanding of the factors that determine
> radionuclide release is central to taking appropriate and timely
> action in order to minimize impacts on the environment and human
> health. [...] Water that interacts with damaged fuel will transport
> radionuclides that present both short-term and longer-term
> environmental risk [...] potentially continuing for many years if the
> damaged fuel is not adequately isolated [...]
>
> AAAS Science Podcast interview with Peter Burns about study:[...] it's
> the interaction of the water and the air with that that is going to
> control the release of radioactivity to the environment [...] what's
> different about Fukushima relative to the earlier events is the vast
> quantities of water that were pumped into the reactor cores [...] that
> created a whole new release pathway for radionuclides out of the
> reactors into the environment. We don't know how much radioactivity
> was released through the water flow, and we don't know very much about
> how the water interacted with the fuel and other structure materials.
> [...] we need to take very seriously the development of knowledge about
> how [...] melted nuclear fuel [...] interacts with the environment,
> especially water that we might use in an emergency to cool it. Studies
> that have been done to date really haven't looked at the longer-term
> interactions of water and the atmosphere with these damaged materials.
> [...] as it interacts with water or whatever over time - [fuel] has a
> potential to release radionuclides that have much longer half-lives
> and they pose a much longer environmental threat.
>
> Full interview with Burns available here
>
> See also: Fukushima Nuclear Chief after 3/11: It will be like 'China
> Syndrome' film, fuel to melt away -- "We're imagining collapse of
> eastern Japan... going to be more than Chernobyl" -- "Could be
> Plutonium... all substances from fuel are going to be released"
>
> Christina MacPherson | June 6, 2014 at 6:42 am | Categories: Fukushima
> 2014 | URL: http://wp.me/phgse-hwq
>
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