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@lillymunster and: Q - Can you better explain the process by which hydrogen is produced in a nuclear reactor? Did the very visible Fukushima explosions---reported as “hydrogen” based---actually mean the reactor core was somewhat exposed and therefore some stage of early meltdown had occurred?

A - Boiling Water Reactors are not cooled with hydrogen, and there is not enough radiolysis inside a nuclear reactor to be worthy of mention. The Hydrogen production at Fukushima was probably due to the water level inside the three stricken reactors dipping below the tops of the fuel cells, if not a lot lower. Once "uncovered" the zirconium tubes (cladding) which holds the uranium pellets rapidly heat up in the steam environment above the water level. The interaction of overheated zirconium and steam generates the free hydrogen, and the more of the fuel cell that gets uncovered the more hydrogen that gets produced. Inside the reactor, this hydrogen is in no danger of ignition because there is no "spark" for ignition and the steam/water atmosphere is incorrect for ignition. The explosive danger occurs outside the reactor if and when pressure relief valves open to the suppression pool (torus) and the hydrogen becomes free in the building atmosphere. The buildup in the upper refueling deck areas of the three stricken power plants at Fukushima must have been terrific, judging by the video of Unit No. 1 blowing its top off.

Has there been fuel damage in these three reactors? It now seems safe to say yes. Meltage of the fuel matrix? Quite possibly. However, the degree of fuel matrix meltage cannot be ascertained, as yet. It took five years of jumping through all the legal hoops at TMI before the reactor vessel was actually opened and we found out just what level of fuel damage had actually occurred. I pray it doesn't take as long to get the Fukushima reactor vessels opened. Until opened, no one could possibly know what the extent of fuel damage actually is. www.hiroshimasyndrome.com

Question folks, sorry if this is a stupid question - trying to learn more as usual. I just listened again to Arnie back in April talk about Reactor 3 ( www.fairewinds.com ). He talks about an explosion from a "fuel pool" but says the reactor is intact. Is this the SPENT fuel pool he means? Or is this some other type of fuel pool that exists outside the reactor?

IIRC we saw an export license for the 1999 shipment of 4.6% enriched Uranium headed for Fuku via Tokai that originated at Areva's Richland, WA reactor.

@lillymunster - I remember it. Was about 7 weeks ago that that information came out.

@lillymunster , I guess they just mixed it up and packaged it in France.

@Meretisa I don't buy his theory, but the pictures are eerily similar, aren't they?

@Darren yeah. I don't buy the theory, but the idea that 3 may be completely blown.. that seems scarily plausible, doesn't it??

Opps, here's the quickView of that MOX fiasco PDF www.google.com

@lillymunster agreed on the theory, am mainly looking at the pictures of 3 and the concept that it could be blown. would explain the pieces of rods a mile away.

@RadioGuy I thought the BNL fuel was slated for another NPP, not Fukushima.

Here we go. AboveTopSecret has a collective analysis. www.abovetopsecret.com

@Meretisa Yeah. But just to fully keep things in perspective, read his whole post on www.jimstonefreelance.com . If we are to believe what he is saying, the earthquake itself is part of an elaborate coverup in conjunction with creating nuclear weapons, not running a power plant.

TEPCO mulls ways to cut humidity in No.2 reactor
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says it will try to reduce humidity inside the Number 2 reactor building.
Tokyo Electric Power Company says humidity and high radiation levels mean workers can work only for short periods of time even if they wear protective gear.

TEPCO says it plans to reduce the amount of radioactive materials inside the reactor building and then open the doors to lower humidity, now at 99.9 percent. The decision came after the failure of its initial attempt to bring down the humidity level. The company initially thought vapor from a storage pool of spent nuclear fuel was responsible for the high humidity. It installed a device to cool down the water. The device cooled down the water but failed to reduce the humidity.
At the Number 1 reactor, a device to reduce radioactive substances was installed in May. But TEPCO says the device needs to be adjusted for the Number 2 reactor since it has low resistance to humidity.

It is possible that radioactive substances will leak out of the Number 2 reactor building once the doors are open. TEPCO says it will make a final decision after carefully assessing the levels of radioactivity.
Work to fix a water level gauge was supposed to begin as early as mid-June, to help ensure stable cooling. But there may be a delay if the company cannot reduce the humidity.

Monday, June 06, 2011 05:13 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

So is there any active work underway to do anything about unit 3? I only hear chatter about 1 and 2. I can't recall any updates on unit 3 in many days now, maybe I'm wrong...

@Darren @lillymunster agreed and understood about him. was more looking at the #3 and wondering if he is on to something about it being "gone". that blast was huge.