Comment Re:A few notes on the construction of the fuel (Score 1) 255
The media had a hayday trying to cover an event in deep coverup. What they reported revealed volumes.
They reported the Hydrogen Explosion. This was the first indicator to the public a major event happened. What the media does not know.
1 The fuel pellets are held in rods made of Zirconium. This is because it is transparant to the reaction and does not slow the reaction so it can be controlled by control rods.
2 Zirconium is flamable, even in water. It burns even better in water than in air. It breaks down water to use the Oxygen.
3 There was a LOT of hydrogen produced in a short time to fill the containment building with an explosive Hydrogen air mix. There are other ways to generate Hydrogen, but not in huge quanities.
When the Hydrogen explosion removed the containment, they were quick to point out this was not a Russian style steam explosion, but a Hydrogen explosion. I suspected at that time, they had burned the fuel rod structures in water. I suspected the fuel pellets were quite hot too.