I'm guessing that was more of a publicity stunt than anything else. Make people feel good because they are really doing something. The sight of the water pouring all over the plant makes great CNN video.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harry Wyeth Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 12:18 AM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:50082] Air drops of water on reactor On NPR this afternoon I heard a report that helicopters had dropped "30 metric tons" of water on the exposed fuel rods, but that much of that had been blown off target. That makes 30 cubic meters, or about one third of the water in our swimming pool (it is a rather big pool). If the rod pools are supposed to cover the rods with 5 m of water--which was also announced--this was obviously insufficient. Anyone who has ever seen an airborne water drop on a wild fire, where the water disperses all over the place-- could have told Tokyo Electric that they were wasting their time. Oh yes, they said the helicopters had been shielded against radiation--with lead. What a good idea that was. HARRY WYETH
