Hi Walter, On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 5:46 AM, Walter Banks wrote: > > > The water storage in containment is needed primarily for spent fuel > rods because uranium will burn spontaneously in air which seems to > be what is happening. > I thought that this was the reason why the fuel was Uranium Oxide rather than Uranium metal - it should not be able to burn. When they talk about fuel rods "burning" I thought that they were referring to the other species present in the rod (e.g., the Zirconium-containing cladding, the support structure holding the fuel pellets, and possibly some of the decay products) Sean --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .