Published: August 31st, 2012 at 3:49 am ET
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Interview with Nuclear Engineer Chris Harris
Nutrimedical Report
Aug 30, 2012
Transcript
Chris Harris, former licensed Senior Reactor Operator and engineer: Most importantly they’re saying there’s no damage [...] But there are embedded in in — I don’t really understand how they got in there — due to the explosion there are chunks of concrete, they’re calling them 2 cm concrete, that’s like a 1 inch chunk of concrete peppered or embedded in the spent fuel rods that comprise the assembly.
h/t MsMilkytheclown1
Listen to broadcast here
Published: August 31st, 2012 at 3:49 am ET
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Explosion perhaps?
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From the pictures I saw when these asemblies were pulled out of SFP 4,
these were over near the edge of the pool wall.
All I can think of is that during one of the many high energy events, chunks of concrete spalled off of the pool wall and embedded or came off of the ceiling and embedded.
Now water is very viscous, http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2005/07/mythbusters_bulletproof_water.html
shows test data from bullets fired into water, how fast would concrete need to be going to get embedded in a fuel asembly? Pretty darned fast, or the water needs to be shocked away from the fuel assembly, perhaps during a large shake event
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patb2009: SFP4 sprung a leak in the cooling pump loop in the EQ on 311, which drained it of water. Exposed spent fuel assemblies released zirconium and cesium vapors, which are explosive. Heated zirconium also produced hydrogen. Building4 went Boom in the night (no pictures), on 3/15/11. This explosion blew the roof out of the building, and demolished the top floor. The explosion pulverized concrete, and peppered the SFP with debris. This is how chunks of concrete came to be lodged in the new fuel bundles.
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That about sums it up, philipupnorth. I think the only unanswered question is how low the water got, how many feet of fuel was exposed. But, exposed, they were.
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You can see photos of the Unit 4 fresh fuel assembly here along with the little rocks:
http://photo.tepco.co.jp/en/date/2012/201208-e/120828-01e.html
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The headline reminds me of Alan Greenspan's: "Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity – myself especially – are in a state of shocked disbelief." He also is reported to have said: "I am in a state of shocked disbelief that the markets did not self regulate."
The engineer's situation is closely akin to Greenspan and others involved with great power in matters of "designing social policy and practice". Both Greenspan and the engineer trusted the competency of their agencies, trusted their own "superior understanding" (or the superior understanding of their field of study). Until disaster emerged, neither was able to imagine all possible outcomes.
Both the engineer and Greenspan are caught in "ordinary human short-sightedness" – but this short-sightedness is especially dangerous when decisions operate at powerful levels.
… just an observation.
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