This is a short diary -- really just a question. The issue has come up a few times, and I was wondering if any of our nuclear engineers or chemists or physicists have an answer.
What is the effect of seawater on the core -- the fuel and rods -- in terms of corrosion, oxidation, etc.
And what is the effect of the core -- ie the radioactivity -- on the components of seawater?
When the crisis first started, I was interested to learn that the reactor core was cooled by the same water that turned the turbines and that this was possible because the extremely pure water used in the core loses its radioactivity quickly. This enables technicians to service the turbines in a boiling water reactor even though they've been bathed in water that circulated in the core.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Most of the radioactivity in the water is very short-lived (mostly N-16, with a 7-second half-life), so the turbine hall can be entered soon after the reactor is shut down.
Also very pure water does not corrode the fuel at normal operating temperatures.
Therefore if they had to vent steam from a normally operating reactor cooled by ultra pure water, the environmental effects would be minimal.
But does anyone know what kind of chemical reactions may be occurring in a core cooled by seawater?
Can we assume that the salts in seawater are corroding the core producing precipitates? Can we assume that the fuel rods are irradiating the salts and organic matter in the seawater.
And what can we assume about the steam being vented from this brew? Does it contain suspended radioactive particles of corrosion, oxides, salts, precipitates, etc.?
Not saying, just asking.