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Re: [Phys-l] recriticality at Fukushima



Quoting Paul Nord <Paul.Nord@valpo.edu>:

There may not be too much of a mystery there if one presumes that they were reacting to a new measurement with an abundance of caution.

"Hey, today's measurement shows an abundance of xenon. Did we see that before?"

The scientist in me says: "You should collect more data and see if you can reanalyze previous results and determine if this represents a real change."

Around the board room I'm sure someone said, "This could be a measurement anomaly that we don't understand. But it might be recriticality. Should we sit on this for a week and do nothing? Or should we...."

Paul


Paul,

Your explanation sounds reasonable to me.

Also, there was this today in an IEEE Spectrum article by Eliza Strickland about lessons learned from Fukushima:

"Sometimes it takes a disaster before we humans really figure out how to design something. In fact, sometimes it takes more than one...

LESSON 1
Emergency generators should be installed at high elevations or in watertight chambers.

LESSON 2
If a cooling system is intended to operate without power, make sure all of its parts can be manipulated without power.

LESSON 3
Keep power trucks on or very close to the power plant site.

LESSON 4
Install independent and secure battery systems to power crucial instruments during emergencies.

LESSON 5
Ensure that catalytic hydrogen recombiners (power-free devices that turn dangerous hydrogen gas back into steam) are positioned at the tops of reactor buildings where gas would most likely collect.

LESSON 6
Install power-free filters on vent lines to remove radio-active materials and allow for venting that won't harm nearby residents."

More at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/24-hours-at-fukushima/0

--
Jeff Radtke
jr@reflectionimaging.com
jr@cloudchambers.com