Vrol, the insertion of the rods does in fact kill the chain reaction as you suspect. The problem is that energy continues to be released by the highly radioactive elements that reside within the active reactor. This heat is adequate to cause a meltdown if not removed.
Dave -----Original Message----- From: Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Nov 23, 2012 12:46 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:Michio Kaku: One solar flare could bring many Fukushimas Vorl Bek <[email protected]> wrote: I thought that reactors were designed so that inserting rods of some material would kill the reaction. I imagine they would have battery power for long enough to insert the rods; heck, maybe they even have a manual way to crank the motor to do it. They can all be gravity actuated as far as I know. The rods are above, and they fall straight down into the reactor core. That is called a reactor SCRAM. It does stop the reaction. Every reactor undergoes an emergency SCRAM from time to time, usually in response to a stuck valve or a clogged pipe. The Three Mile Island reactor accident began with a SCRAM from clogged pipe. Fukushima was scrammed in the first seconds of the earthquake. However, that is not enough to prevent a catastrophe. At Fukushima the tsunami destroyed their generator capacity, and cut their connection to the network, which led to the destruction of the reactors and the hydrogen explosions. - Jed
