Recent content by htf

Let's see if this posting is also deleted ... TEPCO management knew about the tsunami threat and did nothing: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110825p2g00m0dm050000c.html I said this in a posting two weeks ago and received a warning from Astronuc to "refrain from such noise" and my...

My understanding of the test is that not overspeed of the turbine should be avoided but to demonstrate that the rotational energy of the down-spinning turbine can be used to power the main feedwater pumps. These pumps are needed to cool the reactor during a loss-of-coolant accident in an...

I think so - but don't ask my German teachers. The report says that the test was classified as an electro-technical test because no impact on the reactor was expected. The test was planed by an electrical engineer because the electrical systems should be tested. The test should demonstrate...

There was concern about profit in the Soviet Union. The disease was not called "shareholder value" but it was the race between capitalism and socialism. There are many sources that analyse the real reasons of the accident. In the beginning the operators were blamed. This is what I call pilot...

Dear Astronuc, your answers are typical for an rational engineer. However top management thinks different. ... if an accident happens. But money spent on safety will impair the profit now. Top management is in charge for a few years at best. Do you think they care what happens afterwards...

It is not a technical problem ... The real problem is that NPPs are run by profit oriented organizations who try to make as much profit as possible out of their investment. Less safety means more profit and higher bonuses for the top management. Fucushima is a typical example. The risks...

Now I am totally confused. My conclusion from the long lasting discussion in this thread is, that filtered venting is wishful thinking during severe accidents because the filtering system is undersized and therefore a hardened venting system has been installed, which by-passes the filters. So...

Outsider's View I am German and when watching this spectacle I have to rub my eyes in disbelief. This completely destroys my picture of America! My picture of America was that the US politicians are all patriots and at the end of the day the do what is best for the country - at least they try...

I don't think that's the reason. Attitude towards safety has changed dramatically over the last decades. I have an professional circular hand saw from my father, solid carpenter quality form the 60's but you have to be very carefully not to amputate your fingers. This does tell us something...

I don't think so, either. Obviously the designers of the reactors thought: "The RPV won't go beyond 350°C because it must not. If it does a failing temperature sensor is the least problem."

Cobalt would be a Candidate (T_c ~ 1400K). This is the material with the highest Curie temperature I know of.

I don't think we get far with qualitative pictures. The whole thing is a race between different processes. To make the high energy neutrons thermal collisions are required. Neutrons will on the average travel their mean free path between these collisions and they will be scattered in all...

Now I am completely confused. I compared the image with the blueprints, counted the sections and got the impression that it shows the whole reactor building from the top with the circle marking the RPV. Is this not the case?

Of course, you can apply any colour scale you want. If Tepco is not totally crazy or intends to fool the rest of the world then they will at lest have applied a scale where "blue" means colder than "red". Even if the camera was not calibrated and the colour scale is unknown we can conclude that...

Well, but why are these spots in the RPV the hottest points on the whole image? If the RPV is full of water this would mean that there are powerful heat sources located at this place that can maintain a temperature gradient. Can irradiated reactor parts generate so much heat? I am not an expert...