CHERNOBYL UPDATE: BEWARE MISLEADING CLAIMS ABOUT OLD SPENT FUEL COOLING NEEDS
The spent fuel rods are at minimum 22 years old.
They have very little heat to dissipate. In most plants, spent fuel that is more than 5 years old sits in dry storage cooled easily by air.
The spent fuel rods are at minimum 22 years old.
They have very little heat to dissipate. In most plants, spent fuel that is more than 5 years old sits in dry storage cooled easily by air.
https://twitter.com/dsszzi/status/1501518949703426051
THE BASICS: when fuel rods are done making energy in a reactor, plant staff remove them and put them in pools of water.
This is because the particles produced by the splitting of uranium ("fission products") are unstable and continue to undergo decay, and, thus, generate heat.
This is because the particles produced by the splitting of uranium ("fission products") are unstable and continue to undergo decay, and, thus, generate heat.
How much heat a fuel rod puts out depends on how much energy it produced in the reactor (called "burnup") and how long it has been since it left the reactor.
22 years is LONG ago. And RBMK (Chernobyl reactor type) has lower burnup than other reactor types, thus lower decay heat.
22 years is LONG ago. And RBMK (Chernobyl reactor type) has lower burnup than other reactor types, thus lower decay heat.
At Fukushima Daiichi, there was a great deal of international panic about the spent fuel pools, with international media and experts (often same ones saying doomsday stuff about Ukraine now) claiming the pools would go dry, fuel would melt, contaminate wide areas.
Didn't happen.
Didn't happen.
There are differences of course.
Although there were not many spent fuel rods in the pools in Japan, they were younger and hotter.
Although the plant was not occupied by a foreign power, the earthquake and flood had done immense damage and three reactors were melting on site.
Although there were not many spent fuel rods in the pools in Japan, they were younger and hotter.
Although the plant was not occupied by a foreign power, the earthquake and flood had done immense damage and three reactors were melting on site.
WHAT SHOULD WE BE WATCHING FOR?
There are indeed 20k old fuel rods in a pool. Their heat is low enough that experts I've talked to expect weeks or even months to heat the water enough to dry out the pool. Even then, natural air circulation should be sufficient.
There are indeed 20k old fuel rods in a pool. Their heat is low enough that experts I've talked to expect weeks or even months to heat the water enough to dry out the pool. Even then, natural air circulation should be sufficient.
For folks looking for technical information, here's a helpful response from @maesetote
"Stress tests" were conducted at European nuclear facilities after Fukushima to make sure public health was protected even after extreme disasters.
Relevant for us:
"Stress tests" were conducted at European nuclear facilities after Fukushima to make sure public health was protected even after extreme disasters.
Relevant for us:
https://twitter.com/maesetote/status/1501529847679574023
Here is a satellite image with the location of Interim Spent Fuel storage 1 (ISF-1).
This is the pool where fuel bundles wait before being processed into Interim Spent Fuel storage 2 (ISF-2), the second picture attached.
(H/t to the great @science_dirk )
This is the pool where fuel bundles wait before being processed into Interim Spent Fuel storage 2 (ISF-2), the second picture attached.
(H/t to the great @science_dirk )
EVERYTHING at Chernobyl, which stopped making electricity in 1999, will be SLOW to happen.
This mean problems are headaches for staff when normal work routines resume after the war, NOT catastrophes.
Chernobyl is in headlines because of its infamy, not its danger to the public.
This mean problems are headaches for staff when normal work routines resume after the war, NOT catastrophes.
Chernobyl is in headlines because of its infamy, not its danger to the public.
thread not done, lots of cool technical information to compensate everyone for their moment of panic:
https://twitter.com/6point626/status/1501586808777461760
A cool video showing how this whole spent fuel thing works at Chernobyl, with rods in the water moved to canisters for on-land storage:
Pool time limit estimation help!
An effort towards figuring out how long they'd have to restore cooling if the power loss had been as described in the initial news release, from MIT professor @rscottkemp
A month, right in center of our early guesses.
An effort towards figuring out how long they'd have to restore cooling if the power loss had been as described in the initial news release, from MIT professor @rscottkemp
A month, right in center of our early guesses.
https://twitter.com/rscottkemp/status/1501600000073244678
As helpfully pointed out by a commenter, I should've said ~20k "assemblies" rather than fuel rods when citing the total number in the pool. Assemblies are bundles of fuel rods handled as a single unit.
Thanks!
Thanks!
https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1501533457289478144
Good find from user "bum bidet booster" with pictures and diagrams of the materials in question.
https://twitter.com/lentilwallop/status/1501662992584294410
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
