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In reply to the discussion: So it turns out that nadinbrzezinski was correct re Fukushima [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)And tepco is struggling to filter the radioactive sediment out of the coolant water. That's part of the problem of the buildup of radioactive water at the site, they can only recycle the water so many times.
Some steam is coming from the building at times, but the core is only giving off decay heat now. Hot by our standards, but not hot enough to continue to chew through the floor. If the corium mass went critical again, then it could generate enough heat to do so, but the catchment is designed with criticality posions, and to geometrically separate the corium blob in such a way as it cannot achieve criticality again.
If it was hot enough to escape the RPV it was hot enough to burrow somewhat into the catchment floor, but only so far. The same margin of safety is being built into the first French reactor built, because that reactor was built without a containment at all...
That aspect of the design can probably be considered proven at this point, even if everything ELSE did apparently completely fail.
(This is why, while I am generally positive about the idea of nuclear power, I don't trust corporations and governments to implement it anymore.)