US Researcher Says Fukushima Reactor Had Meltdown 3.5 Hours after Cooling System Collapsed

Monday, May 23, 2011


Mainichi English: US Researcher Says Fukushima Reactor Had Meltdown 3.5 Hours after Cooling System Collapsed



A US researcher Chris Allison did the simulation of one of the Fukushima reactors (Reactor 1) and concluded that the meltdown occurred 3.5 hours after the cooling system stopped. It was reported to the IAEA in late March.



So they all knew, except for the hapless citizens of Japan and the rest of the world.



Or they say "Oh we didn't know for sure until May 15 when TEPCO finally announced it," like Japan's PM Kan has said.



We do not know for sure, because no one has looked inside the RPV and reported back to us. All we can do is to collect the evidence and hypothesize, and that has been pointing to a meltdown. Even the PM Assistant has admitted that they knew it was a meltdown early on.



Here's the summary of the simulation by Allison, as described in the Mainichi English article (linked below):





1.The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) fails;



2.50 minutes later: reactor core starts to melt;



3.1 hour 20 minutes later: control rods and other pipes inside the RPV start to melt;



4.3 hours 20 minutes later: most of the melted jumble ("corium") drops to the bottom of RPV;



5.4 hours 20 minutes later: temperature at the bottom of the RPV reaches 1,642 degrees Celsius, damaging the RPV stainless steel lining [melting point of stainless steel is 1,510 degrees Celsius].