MovieChat Forums > Induspavo
Induspavo (4)
Posts
Replies
I re-read my post and I might know where the disconnect could be. Stating an explosion would occur, with a 3-4 megaton yield, doesn’t specifically imply that it’s nuclear generated, I agree and you’re right. What does imply that it’s a nuclear explosion is the size of the yield itself. In my opinion this kind of yield can only come from a fusion bomb. Unless I suppose you had a mountain of TNT that weighed 3-4 million tons, it’s just not conceivable to get that size explosion from non-nuclear fission/fusion means.
I’m watching the video and this Vassili Nesterenko physicist that’s being interviewed has to have been misquoted or something. Anything in the 2-4 megaton range has to be a fusion (hydrogen) bomb which is impossible to do with any nuclear reactor. A molten mass of core material hitting a pool of water would cause an explosion, but only a steam explosion, which is still really bad. Most people don’t realize how exquisitely difficult it is to assemble a critical mass long enough to get any kind of yield. Even if the molten core went critical again, the released energy would make the whole mass fly apart. Once you lose the geometry, the fissioning stops, and the yield is limited to an explosion of maybe 4-400 tons (guessing). All this is really bad, but there would not be a megaton sized mushroom cloud like the video is suggesting.
A steam explosion is not a nuclear explosion. A subsequent hydrogen/graphite/O2 explosion is not a nuclear explosion, but a chemical reaction. The power spike caused the core to lose its geometry and the fissioning stopped. There was no nuclear explosion. The exposed core stays hot for a long time because of decay heat, from radioactive fission products, which can be high as 8% of the thermal output before the core disassembled, which was quite high (>30GW). Decay heat is the major problem with nuclear reactors and why the core needs cooling even after it shuts down, especially the first few hours.
My question was with the writers, they did not need to dramatize so far as to threaten a nuclear explosion. The situation was bad enough already. All the other historical facts are quite accurate.
View all replies >