But as the water goes through the reactor, some water molecules break up into hydrogen and oxygen.
Researchers shuttled all sorts of samples -- seeds, art treasures and live animals -- through the reactor for a dose of neutron radiation, then studied the results.
But even after shutdown, there is residual heat that needs to be drawn off by cooling water pumped through the reactor core, and that's where the trouble came.
The fuel would likely then leach more radioactive materials into the water that is flowing through the reactor to cool it.
The control rods of a typical PWR are inserted from the top (through the reactor head), whereas those of a BWR are inserted from the bottom.
Six minutes later, a hydrogen explosion ripped through the reactor building, showering the area with radioactive debris and damaging the cable, rendering it useless.
While the report makes no specific mention of how the plant would withstand a terrorist attack, Mr. Steets, the company spokesman, said that breaking through the reactor was virtually impossible, especially with recent security improvements.
Soon after, a 45-foot-high tsunami wave inundated the plant and knocked out its backup diesel generators, leaving insufficient emergency power to keep cooling water flowing through the reactor cores.
In research reactors, coolant is run through the reactor, and the heat that is removed is transferred to ambient air or to water without going through a power cycle.
Operating conditions are: feed concentrations; flowrate through the reactor.
Oils are flowed through the reactor, undergoing transesterification as they pass the solid catalyst.
