|
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 05 2013 @ 11:30 PM EDT |
Not exactly. LWRs in the US are moderated by the cooling water, which means
that they naturally shut down with no water. The problem is not the chain
reaction which does shut down, it's the fact that they are cooled by water. So
without water, the core melts from residual heat from the decay of actinides.
So, US LWRs always need cooling water until the short half-life actinides decay
sufficiently to allow air cooling. After a few years the fuel doesn't need water
cooling, and can be stored outside of the spent fuel pool in shielded storage
casks.
There is a comment above about long lived radiation being a problem. If it's
not a problem now, it won't be in the future, either. You are constantly
surrounded by ionizing radiation, mostly from cosmic rays but also from things
like radon and radioactive elements in brick. Low level exposure to radiation is
a fact of life and has not been shown to be a problem. People in Denver get
about twice the annual average exposure than people from, say, Charleston, SC,
but arguably the people in Denver live healthier lives.
-BillR[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
|
|
|
|