[ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Fukushima nuclear decommissioners have no ide...

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

It would be hard to do the heat transfer math without some idea of the geometry (I don't think, "Assume the elephant is a sphere" will work well in this case).  That being said, I am highly skeptical that the fuel is still molten, or has been for a couple of years.  That doesn't mean it will be easy to deal with.  There will be a full robot graveyard before this problem is dealt with.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of JOHN.RICH at sargentlundy.com
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2015 9:01 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Cc: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Fukushima nuclear decommissioners have no ide...

ANS 5-1-2005 "Decay Heat Power" seems to indicate that at this late date the total thermal power is about 1% of the initial operating power. I'm guessing its not molten anymore, but a heat transfer calc would have to be done to confirm that the heat conduction from the core surroundings is sufficient to keep the corium below its melting point. Wikipedia indicates corium melts around 1200 deg C.  Somebody has to have gone through this exercise, and maybe we can get a response from a heat transfer specialist. 
 But its probable that the core is hot, but solid.

Pls fell free to correct this or add to it.  It's just a first approximation with a lot of unknowns - -jmr

John Rich
312-269-3768
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at: http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu