ScribbleLive

one thing in the commercial world.. as new fuel designs or cladding designs come on board,, they are usually "tested" in an operating reactor ... something that is not so good in my opinion..

water is increasing in the #2 trench www.tepco.co.jp

@elaine, maybe from all the water and spray and boric acid?

* = under evaluation... really may mean .. under revision

why that data is simply impossible.. we're in cold shutdown.. BANG the instrument something is wrong.. hmmmmmm

IEEE outlines some predictions of the future at daiichi spectrum.ieee.org

@lilly.. make a sticky pad on the ongoing corrosion of fuel pellet cladding.. I think something will happen there .... just my gut feeling..

@dean will gather comments - then stick a link to them up top

Conventionally, the gross radioactivity of a reactor coolant and/or the off-gases from the reactor are monitored during operation. An abrupt rise in radioactivity indicates that a cladding leak has occurred somewhere in the system. Experimentalreactors are thereupon shut down and the offending element is removed from the system and replaced. Operation of power reactors is usually continued with the leaker present -- frequently with a number of leakers present -- either until a scheduledshutdown occurs or until the gross radioactivity of the coolant and off-gas becomes too high to tolerate. After shutdown all offending elements are removed and replaced.

In both cases identification of the failed fuel elements is necessary. Attempts have been made in the past to monitor the coolant exiting each subassembly in the reactor to determine directly the location of the failed fuel element. Unfortunately, success in this can only be attained with equipment which is extremely complex mechanically.

Identification is accomplished in most commercial light-water reactors by a technique known as "sipping". Following shutdown of the reactor the coolant in each subassembly is sampled and the sample is checked for certain radioactive fissionproducts.

“Given the signs, it’s certain that fission is occurring,” Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at Tepco who regularly talks to the media, told reporters in Tokyo today. There’s been no large-scale or sustained criticality and no increase in radiation, he said.
Fission taking place in the reactor can lead to increases in radiation emissions and raises concerns about further leaks after another radioactive hot spot was discovered in Tokyo on Oct. 29. It’s possible there are similar reactions occurring in the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors, the other cores damaged at the station, Matsumoto said. www.bloomberg.com

"possible" being the operative @ elaine.. he doesn't know for sure

@lilly.. one of the common failure modes of cladding is HYDRIDING.. and with the fuel pellets in such a disarray with who knows what kinds of corrosive conditions..... if we start tracking these episodes over time we may be on to something for predictions on cladding breaches

www.msnbc.msn.com tritium leaks found at 48 US nuke sites,,,,, @ LILLY for reading

Hydrazine,
is:

... a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odor and is derived from the same industrial chemistry processes that manufacture ammonia. However, hydrazine has physical properties that are closer to those of water.

Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable, and is usually handled while in solution for safety reasons.

Hydrazine is used within both nuclear and conventional electrical power plant steam cycles to control concentrations of dissolved oxygen in an effort to reduce corrosion.

@lilly, elaine,,,, question of the day. how many fissions occur in a shutdown reactor per minute...

that is a normal reactor.. BWR..

second question.. how many fissions occur in fukushima demolished shutdown reactor per minute..

@dean erm

@dean I will drop them a line, just hope they don't send me complimentary bottled water

lol @ elaine or some SUSHI

I wonder if they are selling the 'nearly new' facemasks on ebay

A NEW PRODUCT..CCWFIC.... clean contaminate water for ironing cloths.. better than distilled.. all germs dead