what s going on out there. because fob can go up because the radiation levels are so high. the roof is still intact, it hasn t been blown off as with units number 1 and number 3, so we re sort of we re hoping and guessing. everybody is guessing what the situation is there. but i think it s a pretty good, you know, deduction that the hydrogen was generated by the fuel, which means the hydrogen is generated at the same time the zirconium oxidizes. as the sort of pipes break down, the metal rods break down that releases the hydrogen. basically what s happening is the zirconium is taking oxygen from h20 and leaving h2 and it leads to explosive levels. if as they try from as much distance as they can muster to get water into that pool, if it turns out they are firing that water in essence into a colander instead of a bowl, if there are leaks in that pool, then what?
causing it to crack and leak, then drainage becomes a concern. and once the fuel is partially exposed and this could take a while the fuel will basically catch fire. the zirconium, the metal that clads the fuel will get so hot that it will catch fire and will then large amounts of radiation will be released into the environment. and, as you see in the photograph here, reactor number 3, it looks to me that the pool itself is now exposed to the sky. there s nothing there but the sky. so is it reactor number 3? help me. is that where the spent rods are on that particular roof? or we don t know? each reactor has its own spent fuel pool. i see. so reactor number 3 has a
but let s take it one step at a time here. you said if the core is opened. what s the threat there? what i mean is if the core is uncovered, meaning not covered by water, the rods have to have water covering them to make sure there s adequate heat transfer. otherwise it seems there has been a partial zirconium water reaction and probably what happened was the water level dropped a bit and when they reflooded the core, those rods were the uncovered part of the rods were very hot and that degraded some of their zirconium cladding on the fuel and that reacted with water, producing basically zirconium oxide and hydrogen gas, and that s the hydrogen gas being emitted from the vessel. again, these are built and engineered extremely well to handle extreme pressures and
and it generates power out of natural gas, methane, whatever you can find. it has enough reality to it, it doesn t sound like the next pie in the sky. they say it will power eight to ten cents a kilowatt hour. that is cheap, not crazy cheap, but inexpensive. how much can a typical kilowatt cost? 15 to 18 cents. it is a flex fuel. any gas to go in there, oxygen and sand and zirconium, too. not some weird metal you have to come up with that no one can afford. they are trying to extract oxygen from electricity. this to go to mars, to set ul colonization on mars. to create oxygen, electricity,
states nuclear agency that there is no more water on spent nuclear fuel rods. from everything i am able to understand, that means the outside core of those rods can break down, that they can then melt, contaminate the area, make it so that workers can t get to the other nuclear plants that are nearby and cause what would be under all circumstances a worse case scenario. is that fair? no. that s right. and it is an urgency to deal with this. it s a little distressing that after the head of the nrc said the rods are exposed to have the japanese officials deny it. part of the problem of this whole crisis has been figuring out what s going on. now, if the rods are exposed, it probably burnt, the metal burns the last thing you want to do now is put water on it because it could reignite the fires in the zirconium. you have to be careful. the one good thing about unit 4 where this spent fuel pond is