Question

In a serious accident, nuclear power plants reactor vessel cracks and all of the cooling water drains out. Although nuclear fission stops, radioactive decay continues to heat the reactor's 2.5× 10 to the 5 power kg uranium core at rate of 120 Mega-Watts. Once the core reaches its melting point, how much energy will it takes to melt the core? How long will the melting take?

Uranium (melting point,K 1406)
Lf,Kj/kg(82.8)
Boiling point,K(4091)
Kj/kg(1875)

Answer 1

hEAT TO MELT=HEATFUSION*MASS

How long? time=heattomelt/120E6 seconds