The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami natural disaster that occurred
triggered a tsunami that caused the flooding of the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The loss of power to the nuclear
reactor cooling system resulted in runaway nuclear reactions,
reactor meltdowns, and hydrogen explosions that released
radioactive material into the environment. At normal operating
temperatures of approximately 300oC, a zircaloy cladding that
protects the fuel rods is inert. However, above 1,200oC, zirconium
metal reacts exothermically with water (steam) to produce hydrogen
gas and zirconium oxide.
a) In the reaction producing zirconium oxide from zirconium,
does zirconium get oxidised or reduced?
b) Write a fully balanced chemical equation including
appropriate state symbols for the reaction between zirconium and
water to form hydrogen gas and zirconium oxide.
c) Imagine that the high-strength metal casing housing the
nuclear reactor had a failure strength of 1,600 MPa which is
equivalent to an internal gas pressure of 15,791 atm. If the
hydrogen gas did not vent out of the casing, the pressure would
build up until it exceeded 15,791 atm, at which point the
high-strength metal casing would fail by rupture. If the
temperature inside the nuclear reactor was 1,200oC, and the nuclear
reactor housing measured 1.0 m × 2.5 m × 1.0 m, what would be the
minimum amount of zirconium (in tonnes) available in the nuclear
reactor to cause the metal containment structure to
rupture?
The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami natural disaster that occurred triggered a tsunami that caused the flooding of the Fuk
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