Re: more on jet engine penetration - Scott Portzline

[Gary Isenhower <garyi@BCM.TMC.EDU>]

Good Morning Norman.  Please let me point out that Scott's email is

nothing but unsupported assertions.  For example, he says

    

	The 4% difference Jaro mentions is virtually meaningless as

> > he states for smaller loads. But, that difference for a jumbo jet is

> > enourmous for destructive force.



This quote completely discredits its author.  He is saying that, for a

massive object (a jet engine) a 4% increase in kinetic energy (i.e., a

4% more massive engine) results in a penetration of 4 feet instead of 4

inches, and he provides nothing to support his opinion.  Would a 4%

heavier baseball shatter normal baseball bats?  Does this sound

reasonable?  Nevertheless, I would believe it if there were an

experiment or study in which a jet engine under reasonable circumstances

actually did penetrate a containment structure.



Further down, he mentions "a troubling unanalyzed condition at nuclear

plants".  This is like me saying, "If the planets line up just right,

gravitational forces might suck all the air off our planet.  We have to

implement a plan to modify planetary orbits so that this calamity never

happens."  Before we start spending money on avoiding the calamity, we

should establish whether or not it is a problem.



I hope you will either admit that this stance on containment domes is

unsupported, or provide real proof of your assertions.  



Thanks,

    _______________________________________________



	Gary Isenhower

	713-798-8353

	garyi@bcm.tmc.edu







Norman Cohen wrote:

> 

> To those of you, including Jaro, who were discussing jet engine penetration of

> containment:

> 

> "Scott D. Portzline" wrote:

> 

> > Norm,

> > Sorry it took so long to address this issue due to other priorities. The

> > point of airline crashes into nuclear plants is already proven by Argonne

> > National Laboratory in 1982 which virtually equated penetration by larger

> > jets with direct release of radiation.

************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.