Q1- Written response question on Chemistry The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami natural disaster that occurred on 11 M

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Q1 Written Response Question On Chemistry The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake And Tsunami Natural Disaster That Occurred On 11 M 1 (94.86 KiB) Viewed 30 times

Q1- Written response question on Chemistry The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami natural disaster that occurred on 11 March 2011 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 300°C, a zircaloy cladding that protects the fuel rods is inert. However, above 1,200°C, 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 1,200°C, and the nuclear reactor housing measured 1.0 m x 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? Show all your workings to gain full marks.