Re; Spent Fuel Pool. Why has no one thought

[The Doctor.]

To drop hoses straight into the (empty) pools by helicopter, lay them at range, and pump water straight in? (repeat as necessary)

What's with trying to 'throw' water on them?

Anyone want to call and ask why this can't be done?

[ChicagoRonin]

1. Theories

- Mechanism to do so via helicopter is not available
- Hoses would still need to be connected to a water source and pumping system, likely on the ground, which would probably require an extra-long length that is probably not available
- Precision insertion would probably require a scenario in which workers would have to disembark from the copter and land on the roof to insert the hoses. Radiation level is too high for that.

[The Doctor.]

6. Yet they're trying to simply 'drop' water on the pools.

It seems more likely they could more precisely drop a weighted hose than toss water at them.

I have trouble believing they don't have or can't borrow a helicopter carrying enough hose to do it. I have a hard time believing that they can't come up with enough hose to do it.

It seems like a far better plan than just throwing water at it.

[BR_Parkway]

11. Why not just dump concrete and start burying it?

[Skidmore]

15. Wonder if someone sees it as salvagable and capable of

being used for profit in the future. I honestly think that is why some crises are managed the way they are when it involves a business interest--remember the BP oil disaster.

[Statistical]

18. It may come to that but a concrete seal isn't going to be perfect.

The fuel rods will eventually melt, and that contamination will make its way into the soil, water, and air.
You are talking about an exclusion zone like Chernobyl. The problem is Japan is much smaller than Soviet Union so any exclusion zone would "erase" half the country.

[madmax]

29. I believe it would leach out of concrete

I've noticed in the hospital radiation type drugs are kept in metal - steel?

[Statistical]

17. Mechanism doesn't have to be on the helicopter.

They have helicopters with dump buckets.

So modify the dump bucket so it has a hose connected to it. Instead of pilot pushing a switch to dump the water it would open a valve to the hose.

[uncle ray]

36. so you're basically saying "piss on it."

folks, shit has gotten bad.

[Motown_Johnny]

32. self delete

wanted to link to OP

[Scuba]

2. Why can't we dump Wall Street banksters on them?? n/t

[Octafish]

3. For that mission, I'd fly the chopper in a thong.

No matter how many sorties it would take to run out of, em, payload.

[VWolf]

4. So you want to

use toxic material on radioactive material?

[Scuba]

21. LOL

[madmax]

30. That's an excellent idea and one I support

whole-heartedly. :)

[rucky]

5. I'm just guessing, but I assume there are fixes underway

that will take a few days to set up. I don't think anybody believes the helicopter dumps are the solution.

[rucky]

9. The pattern with BP, the Chilean Miners, etc...

has been that outsiders have engineered the solution. I think the people within an industry or company are too invested in covering their asses too much to come up with a viable plan from within (not an excuse!).

[NHDemProg]

7. Time, distance, shielding...

...unless you want to end up like the first responders at Chernobyl.

[FreakinDJ]

8. 2200 deg F would burn up the hose

[The Doctor.]

12. The idea is just to get close enough to make sure the water gets there.

There just has to be a better way than throwing water at it.

[Statistical]

19. ok then don't get to close.

Say the pilots can currently only get 500ft from the pool.

With a hose they would have more precise aim and maybe with a 400ft hose they could get within 100ft of the pool.
Higher accuracy and less spread due to height.

[Urban Prairie]

22. 400 ft hose might take too long to drain the water supply

from the copter, exposing it and the pilot for too long to the radiation being emitted?

[Statistical]

24. Hmm. That is a good point. We don't have all the data.

[originalpckelly]

27. They observed 87.7 mSv/hr right above the reactors...

that is enough to cause damage. It would also cause cancer down the line too.

[The Doctor.]

38. You wouldn't want the water supply in the copter.

I'm not exactly sure how heavy 2000' of hose filled with water is, but the idea would be to cool the pool enough to drop the hose in and take the copter out of the equation.

[Buzz Clik]

10. Expediency.

[Skidmore]

13. Better yet...

dump a few tons of concrete on it.

[Bonobo]

14. How long can the strongest anti-radiation suits hold up?

How much protection do they give?

Anyone know?

[Angry Dragon]

23. It was posted in another OP that any suits that would work

would need 2" of lead .......... too heavy
any suit out there is made for low level radiation

[Statistical]

26. Negligible against gamma radiation.

It takes 0.5" of solid lead to cut radiation exposure in half.

There is no concept of "hold up" the suit will last forever. It simply cuts a % of radiation.

So if you are behind 0.5%" of lead at the exposure is 40mSv your will receive 20mSv.

If you add another 0.5" you will be exposed to 10mSv. Add another 0.5" you will be exposed to 5mSv. Another 0.5" you will be exposed to 0.25".

[pintobean]

16. Gotta love these 'I can fix it' threads

[The Doctor.]

39. LOL! And I love worthless, ignorant comments.

Never claimed I could 'fix it'. Just asked why they aren't trying certain things.

Go piss on somewhere else.

[MindPilot]

20. Why doesn't Superman just orbit the Earth really fast until time goes backward

Or maybe Capt Kirk can slingshot the Enterprise around the Sun, come back to the 21st Century and use a tractor beam to pull the melting cores out into space.

Maybe if Dr Who shows up in the Tardis he can simply fix it with his Sonic Screwdriver.

[driver8]

28. +1! n/t

[CJvR]

25. The sheer scale I suspect.

The reactor blocks are not small structures go in and have a look at some of the aerial pictues of the site. I also suspect that even if you could get a hose straight in to the right spot, without killing anyone or ripping the hose on any debries, you would have trouble pushing water that high up without bursting the hose.

[kenny blankenship]

31. Here's another idea. Since Repukes don't think this is a big deal, we could turn the pool into a SPA

for them. Charge the big bucks for a 3 day stay.

[Motown_Johnny]

33. I was thinking something similar, using fire boats to pump the seawater

but I will admit I didn't think of using the helicopters to drop a hose right onto the target. I just wanted to get something close enough to spray into the target.

I assume the hose would need to be weighted so that the pressure won't move the nozzle around while spraying but it does sound as if it could be feasible.

[hedgehog]

34. A hose long enough to reach back to a water supply would

probably be too heavy for a helicopter to lift.

[Motown_Johnny]

35. .

[The Doctor.]

37. As the above picture demonstrates, it's doable. But it wouldn't have to reach

a water-supply anyhow. Just far enough to be outside the danger zone. Then it can be connected to more hose. After that, the only concern is the strength of the pumps.