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Originally Posted by Legbreaker
My understanding, limited though it may be, is that reactors don't blow up like a bomb. Yes there's the odd explosion from time to time, but they're caused more due to pressure build up in the coolant system rather than a nuclear reaction.
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The explosions at Fukushima haven't been so much to do with pressure, they are a result of the extreme heat and chemical reactions with the fuel rod casings cracking the hydrogen out of the coolant water; once the hydrogen has enough oxygen in the air mixed with it it becomes explosive; that is what has blown parts of the containment structures apart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Legbreaker
Worst case is a meltdown. This will release one hell of a lot of radioactive material into the atmosphere and end up as fallout. It's this which is what all the techs etc are most afraid of - a blast would devastate the local (relatively) area but fallout will reach the world.
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A meltdown at Fukushima won't cause that much of a blast but it will result in 3000 degree celsius enriched uranium oxide melting through the bottom of the pressure vessel and then the containment structure; the oft postulated (though never yet seen) "China syndrome" would be if the superheated fuel pellet molten slag melted through the containment vessel and all the way down to the water table; that theoretically could cause a catastrophic steam explosion and contamination of the water table, atmospheric fallout or both.