Technically the containment is the steel inner structure, the concrete
building you see is the shield building and there is a space between the two
(usually around 15 feet or so, called the annulus. A 100% melt down which
breaches the reactor vessel bottom IS expected to eventually penetrate the
floor (china syndrome) and then reach a thick layer of silica rich soil
which then glasses and effectively shields fuel goo. I know of no
containment/shield building in the US specifically designed to withstand the
direct strike of a 747 at full speed, that was not considered a credible
risk when these things were disigned. I think they most certainly would,
the rebar in the shield building is as thick around as your forearm and
there is so much of it you would think there was more metal than concrete in
the structure.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Clark" <jonkc@worldnet.att.net>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2001 11:18 AM
Subject: Containment buildings
> At random I looked up some facts on two different containment buildings
for nuclear
> reactors in the USA, I assume others are similar. The wall on one was 3.9
feet thick
> and made of concrete lined with 1/4 inch steel plate, the other was 3 feet
thick lined
> with 2 inch steel plate. I think even a 747 would have trouble blasting
through that.
> The foundation of both (China syndrome protection) was about 10 feet
thick.
>
> John K Clark jonkc@att.net
>
>
>
>
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