Re: Dateline NBC TMI story - A different evaluation

["Franz Schoenhofer" <franz.schoenhofer@chello.at>]

Private:

Franz Schoenhofer

Habicherg. 31/7

A-1160 Vienna, AUSTRIA

Phone: -43 699 11681319

e-mail: franz.schoenhofer@chello.at



Office:

MR Dr. Franz Schoenhofer

Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management

Dep. I/8U, Radiation Protection

Radetzkystr. 2

A-1031 Vienna, AUSTRIA

phone: +43-1-71100-4458

fax: +43-1-7122331

e-mail: franz.schoenhofer@bmu.gv.at







-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: Ted Rockwell <tedrock@CPCUG.ORG>

An: Jacobus, John (OD/ORS) <jacobusj@ors.od.nih.gov>; Michael Stabin

<michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu>; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

<radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>

Datum: Freitag, 17. August 2001 04:38

Betreff: RE: Dateline NBC TMI story - A different evaluation





>> I believe that the China Syndrome was an accepted theory by the engineers

>at the time.

>

>John, et al:

>

>I don't know any serious engineer who believed it.  In fact, it was never

>really defined in technical terms.  It just meant that the molten core

might

>penetrate the vessel and find itself facing several feet of concrete.  One

>could postulate (guess) that this might lead to a crack in the containment

>and some minor amount of fps could get into the ground (which is a pretty

>good filter--see Oklo).

>

>I don't think anyone was seriously concerned over the impact on Beijing.

>

--------------------------------------------



You describe, what really could happen, but the words "China Syndrome" were

intended to describe, that the molten core would sustain criticallity and

make its way all the way through earth and appear finally at the surface at

the other side of the globe (China). This "China Syndrome" might have been

invented by a cynical engineer, who joked, but I remember from the time of

TMI that there were quite a few people who took it serious. BTW, I haven't

heard it since at least 20 years. BTW(2): The film was recently broadcast on

Austrian TV, which obviously was connected to the ridiculous attitude

towards the Czech power plant at Temelin.



Franz