ML19322C721

Excerpt from We Almost Lost Detroit, Describing Critical Moments of Fuel Melting Accident

ML19322C721
Person / Time
Site:	Fermi, Crane
Issue date:	12/31/1975
From:	Justin Fuller READERS DIGEST
To:
References
TASK-TF, TASK-TMR PR-751231, NUDOCS 8001210506
Download: ML19322C721 (5)

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\\ WE ALMOST LOST mr i,n)i ~r p H, i r l-Mau AA y. JOHN G. FULLER p.* ' f f l l. + P00lFORGINAL .I .o** Q[(;

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'; "a Copyright C 1975 by John G. Fuller f 'fu rp ~L 1..a an All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or l =,h ._ $tta y 4 utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, ~ . p, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, 'g ) induding xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system is forbidden without the l b yi . r! ! written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in g [i Canada by Fitihenry & Whiteside 1.imited. Toronto. Y" ' '

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y. _7.. a rn Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data [., Fuller, John Grant,1913-Nucld 1 T' h~ We almost lost Detroit. for e ' %.' l 'b, Bibliography: p. genc l i (- t lA r includes index. \\ !; 1 1. Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant, Michigan. 2. Atomic k:i literb F power. plants-Accidents. I. Title. 3-f)i TK13H.M5F841975. 621.48'3 75-17870 .n we r" E ISBN 0-88349-070-6 is ins 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 m piovu r,l. g .J I h.qtn at j y vehiq ,- _4 ,y.e.7 a indud c.f^g.*&S J J. abso y;Cyd.,,y;3 >.y ntlC) Mi$d ~[j u n d.. s g sy SC5C ? be cd 1 f No. A L P00R ORIGINAL r 46 [ [,- - w.. - 4 auw, A.a.. .- i.i4 - 7 ~.3'[ 1 '~ I r 1 2, ). ;. ~ u .$h gg ,q ye w , h'. 4 +f. %Wg,. y. C + -Cg'i gm w&y.L** , V::h .:;,g g-ly ~

e e m, l j f. ~ 4 l l h We Almost Lost Detroit 201 s ? tilj rf.it ilf r Ir.nin. s sin t }W 'tlh.t w U.hlms a ntl e it her ilH!u.i-ti:e it t <,i s - f r.w ed t hat o nWt hum u.is happenitie in the i nre that wa, \\rf\\ Tea!.\\lnl'e#.11 5.D I l'.\\1 clM en Inin utt - a!!c! t}W !af bald an r .!!.I f t n II n l L'ilite t ill tllt' Ilt t Ishill u.t s n l.n ic ti n til.tilti.1l{ y M ratil ~ '" ^ ' 5 f 1. \\YasihlsitH> si H 6n I nf It H, !.i t c.' =, f lir' i r.p te st. l }le ijin (11: t wg s. ;.O f,M' . e_. \\ n the,,ia, m.nf a o m n inn,ihe t o,c n,,,n,a n3. n i c et one. c m lt sf allpj d'fl sl \\ lllt fit' i ll t illl Iflt' lil!! (!18h il,, lN 8s t llt ill..! hits w.ts !!' ) e r ..a:". 6, . a w.e:.. tirne to t.tke a i ha n( c .\\ set ond inann.d u rain signal w as avmr&Ams' ^r<. y ..v m.. . m o WMC~ ~ . W,lJ.4 ' d.%[f Q,,eW&y,fffAlQ w. at fl\\ tte d 'I he-t rhD f allt it Hl tithill) { le nrd dow n tnlh. w

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! klf" f (*( $ h ',' 4..#. '.. [%. ^.~ ( ". ~ l heht m the i or r idor w hit h h.uk read RI.M :I( >R ( >N was no P. I bl1 } 'l' f 4 IlI, s0 l lI" f)! at f 14 j.s til kI f I'aII I If }.kl N $'ll sl [.1 $ l \\ f l10 t, g F ({t!!t ; t ej et-f a till s 's t! llir In w shift wi s e-1 fic t if t t li p! [ < n ifIl u.L ..nnnein. m cral sr.iti n winlH is werr < hei kine in'tr unwnis and ,ls t} tilu sin kilt'u li.t f ix if \\ 1tl? fit flit t l + >ill u lt.l! l!D' t i t ill! lle was e i u niln ill. itch t h.tf it u.t s v illwt hlin e < t u ntis siinir t h t tic.1 li st Itu at e than a tanh\\ -c.d l ic tonnd.\\like \\Vilber \\ m, orn er ned about ilm utnatoin. C'pi n ialh the high tcinpriature readines in the i 8 tir \\ll llH' s t !' l l s M 'ci t H 't l 11) } fe ' lH slit t illy le t .1 tilrl lilrltin[ sonanon.. uni there w asn't a nui le n enenwi r in the business I w h. did n't k n.m w hat t h at i nnhi inc.in i b \\\\ altri hli ( !.t t t!!\\ has 111 .1 t i 6n t' t RIH l' III tli su lt ti tu t t I )c t li sit g when n happened lic cot a i.dl tioni lhll ( >1 son. th" pl. int i sla l H' r \\ INi c h fit t titlLl fllIll !!1 lf Ifwir i l'fillkIt' \\ w.ls r\\ lifelH c 4)! t f f uel d.unage. that the trai tor h.nl heen s rannned.. uni that the isai!ated hith high IJiliatitin I ( olit a t tllt ir tit hulhling had !)* co k s. k s k s k k k s. k \\$I k !I k I t t hijnt t. I hen he ttird tii ! rat h \\ValkrI (Iislcr, a ho was in New I so he took oil Wrk at the 'une lic t onhin't Ir.u h (:isler, runnihatrit toi 1.aen. na Itc.n h. { \\\\ lIrtl lle.li f l\\ t'tl a t t he l cf illi t ( *Ilt t e il t i nt illi. !!!cic h as sll!l l ( ou ttla 64 ill as it s what had hap lH tWd. lhe tInk al spn stisin t r k i i

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remained: Was there fuel melting or not? With direct observa-q m H- ? V > y W,Nw v a m 4 %, y $. m ;. $ 4 tii.n im;xmible, the problem would imil down to instruments, I 38 e- %.jg,hf%.m

• luction, and a prayer. The only hope for futuie inspection was i

.MMdhIfe M[MEyh u Jrain the thousands of gallons of the thick, opaque sodium out %g m M 5 p M h;,T p-or e, reactor, and then, with infinite care, to try to probe the {! G M).j.h. N M %u lxmels of the core to see what had happened. This was, of course, 2 W4"J L, gy un;mssible at the moment. n, ~,. ay M9e%hr ShCarthy didn't need to be reminded of the words of J. IL l Dietrich in the nuclear engineer's Ilible:

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In all but the smallest and most compact fast reactors, the a QUj@,MMM( agglomeration of even a fraction of the total fuel into a compact m s mass will usually result in a highly super-critical assembly.

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[N: x Some k. d of fuel meltmg was suspected by Mike Wilber, 'l gtx.wuw;mw m c g ww w Wh. d " Mgghv and if la.s theory was correct, the meltmg could be.m more than M,.',id,g:gf yw e g, A,f; 19M.;.g g dfb one fuel subassembly. The question here was: How much fuel l %; i W. 7ic WF had melted, what was the condition of the core, and what were wgy:s &. w mx+4mr9MMW the chances of a secondary accident? g[w,;NfM@yym%@.. Again, Dietrich had given a very c! car and terrifying picture f y wm q ofth., is. A.4 cyg g ! h. ; v,'s r c %gb e.'

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W W W M W m O Q3di be cons.dered to end w. h the general melting or thermal failure of i it e wn 4eV,m%g% g y:.?,_-~ T 7%y p g-fuel elements. On the contrary, it is conceivable that the crious . 7 portion of the accident may only begin at that point. n i s( It didn't take long to deduce that there was defmitely fuel Q melting, and that it wasn't confined to a single subassembly. If k 9 there was melting in several subassemblies, it would create a N l g[ situation that would require extreme caution. Almost immediately after he arrived at the plant, McCarthy j w' y j called a meeting. Evety available key man of the Fermi team was i o there-Olson, Wilber,Jens, Amorosi, Johnson, and others-some l of whom had nursed the plant from its infancy, for over a decade. ) Alexanderson was to arrive later. ( >LWt aigjA jput; J wLf% Wg-w%f P00R~0 RENAL l

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r a -u We Almcst Lost Detroit 203 l he prirnt <{uestnins ucic-Is t he tr.u nir so ur r.' W ould it sr.n 'n ur e! Wh.a < oubl he d..n c to esplore the.u i ivlent that wouh!n't trigger.i sn ond.u \\.u t ident inor e terrible than ihr (. tir st! 'I he or gent, hur nine prior ny was to inake surr Ihat in> WW . y .'1 q ~ w ha/.if t h nis ( sirli!If nin existetl in the t t,ic. 'l he p. urn ti.il h.i/a rd ' :10 b v.. , 't.., b s .h i.,'. t '[ s ' +w j h.1%fif(fHl M" ("llist ilititjs,.l!!!! t fle la( k til ('\\l)CTierl( c kll kl.lrl(liklly h m. ~w y .sr ..--..s I tst !)t t'rtle r.t( ( it!cnts nl.l($c Illt' sktllatisill lf ally llt h k til (la rlQc f. I q,.. - fs

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F ' ' ~; 1 l (v; s q yp.x + g, l-.un ther. no pro \\ ision h.nl been ni.uir in the design f.or in\\ cstigat- ...-. g-(,,;,gwey _,~j.4 _ \\.. ;r wn lily arn! n en cring alarnayn! l'url e lrine tits. u, ' g[y;a. _,..pg* 9 /,Up j ' j .I. ~ I!!al t kle Fer siii trarii w as sitting <>ri tiep i>f.i j>< >u <!cr m. ti saV g m7ws,: \\. Lcq wouh! be a inajor under st.ucinrnt..I.he t hrea t of.asn oinlary (w.a, ., m,.,e p' ., o. < x .It I h t f f

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