“Howard” wrote me today with the following information which I now pass on to you. By the way I had a look the web site showing the track of the jet stream. It’s quite good.

James Pilant

Full text of Howard’s post:

James,

I found this website that shows the track of jetstreams. They have an option to choose animation or still images. Here’s the link:

http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html

I worked with nuclear power many years ago, and so am not current on modern design of reactors. But the basics should still be the same. The fuel rods interact with each other (a fission reaction), causing extreme heat. The reaction is controlled (read “cooled or shut down”) by the control rods being inserted between the reacting fuel rods.

The reason I’m putting this information on here is the explanation being given on the news (about attempts to “cool the reactors with water”) seems nonsensical. No water I know of can slow or stop a nuclear reaction. That’s what the control rods are for. The water circulating through a reactor is there to transfer heat from the fuel rods to a secondary water system, where pressure is relieved allowing the secondary water to flash into steam. The steam then drives turbines that perform work such as generating electricity.

If the reactor is melting, that means something must have gone wrong with the insertion of the control rods. My guess is the earthquake damaged their control systems, preventing the emergency shutdown of the reaction. I don’t know how any amount of water passing over an uncontrolled fission reaction can even begin to cool it down. It certainly can’t be put out like a fire.

Maybe the control rods were successfully inserted partway, and what we’re seeing really is a “partial meltdown”. Maybe there’s only a small amount of exposed fuel, and it’ll use itself up soon. In any case, it’s a good idea for all of us to keep an eye on the situation and on any fallout that may come our way.

Prayer is always a good idea. For anyone who isn’t already a born-again Apostolic Christian, I encourage you to read Acts 2:38 in the Bible. None of us knows when our time here on Earth will end, and it’s best to be ready to meet our Maker at any time.

Howard

His post concludes here. I want to thank Howard and invite him back to comment whenever he wishes.

James Pilant