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Cosmic Rays To Reveal the Melted Nuclear Fuel In Fukushima's Reactors
the_newsbeagle writes: Muons, produced when cosmic rays collide with molecules in the atmosphere, are streaming through your body as you read this. The particles pass through most matter unimpeded, however they can interact with heavy elements like uranium and plutonium. That's why engineers at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant are using muon detectors to look for the melted nuclear fuel inside the plant's three melted-down reactors. By determining where muons are being diverted from their paths, the detectors create images of the blobs of fuel. That's necessary because nobody knows exactly where the radioactive gloop ended up during the meltdowns.
We've been using muon detectors for over 40 years to detect nuclear-related activities in various countries, including reactor installation, stockpiling, bomb-building, and so on. One of the reasons for the ability to move MX missiles around underground was so that long term muon detector observation by the Soviets could not pinpoint the location of the missiles.
Whenever talk turns to Fukushima, I'm always surprised at how little is known of the dark side of America's nuclear history.
Did you know the first meltdown in the U.S. was in Los Angeles? And the reactor had no containment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_FCvbc0cNE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPk9kEaSyAY
Did you know about the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and it's ten reactors? Four of which had nuclear accidents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory
And this is only a very small part of the story. Be glad you are not raising a family in Canoga Park.