Bob Blick wrote: > How much cooling do those reactors need if the fuel rods were OK and > the control rods are fully inserted? More than passive water cooling > with whatever flow can be achieved through convection? Apparently yes. The article said the pressure was building, and they did several steam releases to cool it down. Eventually they ran out of water such that the top of the rods became exposed. It seems to me that one good failsafe measure would be to ensure there is enough of a water reservoir in the reactor chamber to allow such steam releases for long enough to account for the residual radioactive decay heat= .. Perhaps a real nuclear engineer can explain why that's not feasible. ******************************************************************** Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products (978) 742-9014. Gold level PIC consultants since 2000. --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .