it is not good. uranium remember are little pellets in these metal tubes. if those tubes are exposed to the air, the metal oxidizes and starts to breakdown. it is like the idea of rusting, it is not rusting, it is oxidi seepation. if the bottom of your car looks like this, like mine does, you worry about whether you have to replace it, whether you need framework done, or whether you need a new car. rust. sir cone yum doesn t rust but it does objection diez when exposed to air. the combination of heat and the objection did iization, it is like super fast rusting. exposing those fuel rods to the air causes that. it is like super fast rusting on steroids and that s trouble. between that and the heat, the
these hot, radioactive fuel rods underwater. you put them in pools that in the case of the japanese reactors that we are focusing on, pools that are about 40 feet by 45 feet. first of all, water just physically cools down the fuel rods. but the water also provides some shielding for their radioactivity, just like with an active reactor that has to be shut for some reason, these spent fuel rods essentially need to be treated the same way. they are so hot, they need to be kept underwater, and the water can t just sit there, it needs to be circulating so it cools the rods off. as the cooling system stops and the rods are hot enough, if the water stops circulating, the rods are so hot, they will boil off the still water covering them. if the rods boil off the water covering them, so the water level drops and the fuel rods are exposed to the air, what happens? same thing as in an active reactor that s been shut down. it is not good. uranium remember are little pellets in these metal tubes.
they re proud to be chilean, and even prouder to be miners. you can see things down here have changed he says. in this new video sent to the surface mine mario sepulveda goes through the cabin half a mile deep, showing how he and his 32 comrades are holding up. since rescuers found the men alive ten days ago, survival rations have been delivered by narrow bore holes. these metal tubes, miners are getting flood, water, medicine, clean clothes and even music on mp3 players. the music has arrived, and we re organizing today s party. we re super happy and we ve been dancing to a couple songs, he says. off camera, a miner could be heard joking.