Today I leaned of a practical application of meltdown – tunneling.

https://www.freepatentsonline.com/3693731.html
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/3693731.pdf

In 1972, The Los Alamos National Laboratories patented a nuclear tunnel boring machine, claiming it could reach depths of 18+ miles. It uses molten lithium to melt through rock, leaving behind a tunnel with a glass-like finish.

Although this technique requires more energy to drill than a rotary drill, the energy is in the form of heat which is the form most easily obtined from a nuclear reactor.

Figure 1 is an isometric view of the nuclear reactor. Figure 3 is a cross section of the 30 core nuclear reactor.

What could possibly go wrong?

I thought that this was going to be about a variation of the China Syndrome.

Make a seriously radioactive core meltdown that makes the “Elephants Foot” look like a kids toy, then just follow the molten blob down through the crust.

I’m not doing the math on it though.

I remember reading about that in the 70’s or so, no idea where though.

Kingy said:

I thought that this was going to be about a variation of the China Syndrome.

Make a seriously radioactive core meltdown that makes the “Elephants Foot” look like a kids toy, then just follow the molten blob down through the crust.

I’m not doing the math on it though.

Ta, I had to look up “Elephants Foot”. The Chernobyl slug of melted core. “Corium” is a real thing? It sounds like something out of Sci-Fi.

“Corium, also called fuel-containing material (FCM) or lava-like fuel-containing material (LFCM), is a material that is created in the core of a nuclear reactor during a meltdown accident. It resembles natural lava in its consistency. It consists of a mixture of nuclear fuel, fission products, control rods, structural materials from the affected parts of the reactor, products of their chemical reaction with air, water and steam, and, in the event that the reactor vessel is breached, molten concrete from the floor of the reactor room.”

That’s right, there was a suggestion of melting some heavy metal (iron?) down through the crust in the 1970s and then following it down. The 1970s were a great era for physics.

This patent refers to a controlled temperature tunneling system using heat pipes to transfer heat from the reactor to the rock.

I can’t help wondering if it would work on Europa.

mollwollfumble said:

< snip >
That’s right, there was a suggestion of melting some heavy metal (iron?) down through the crust in the 1970s and then following it down. The 1970s were a great era for physics.

This patent refers to a controlled temperature tunneling system using heat pipes to transfer heat from the reactor to the rock.

I can’t help wondering if it would work on Europa.

Q 1 : What the hell are they drilling/searching for?

Q 2: What happens when they hit Ground Water?