Re: Dispersal of Spent Fuel -Reply

[mcbaker@students.wisc.edu (Baker)]

There is a very real situation in which out of core fuel could explode.
If an out of core critical event occurred, which is possible in a spent
fuel handling facility contrary to some people's opinions (or we are sure
wasting a lot of money on criticality alarms at the facilities I have
experience with),  or if a loss of cooling to the pool for an extended
period of time happened the fuel could melt.  In which case there is a
small chance of creating a mixture in which a vapor explosion could occur.
Now if people are refering to a nuclear explosion, this is not one, but
it can still generate large amounts of energy.

This is not really a Radsafe topic so if someone is interested in more
information on vapor explosions please contact me via personal email.

Michael Baker ... mcbaker@students.wisc.edu