Nuclear fuel rod questions

[flamatrix99]

Really interesting article.

why couldn't the control rods be fully inserted to stop the reaction in a crisis situation or would that not work without water flow?

They are. Our scram time is <0.7 seconds.

 

[machinedrummer]

Can the nuclear waste be loaded on a rocket and be blasted off to the sun? Might sound silly but its probably cheaper and safer than keeping it among us. Just a thought.

 

[LACamper]

Can the nuclear waste be loaded on a rocket and be blasted off to the sun? Might sound silly but its probably cheaper and safer than keeping it among us. Just a thought.

We might find a use for it someday? Not to mention the environmentalist would throw a fit! Personally, I think a better answer is to just park it in deep space where we can monitor it or get it if we need it.

 

[Baldrik78]

It's not an on/off situation like turning off a light bulb.

There is still residual heat being produced. Look at the problems they are having with storage of used fuel rods from the reactors on turn-around.

From what I understand, as well, most of the radiation at the moment is coming from the spent fuel rods in the empty pools, where there are typically no control rods.

 

[03protege]

Can the nuclear waste be loaded on a rocket and be blasted off to the sun? Might sound silly but its probably cheaper and safer than keeping it among us. Just a thought.

Sounds great till the rocket explodes 2 miles up and everyone is rained on with nuclear waste.