Overlooked and/or under-prioritized in post-accident analyses of the TMI-2 meltdown is instrumentation that could have directly monitored water level before, during, and after its accident progression. Such instrumentation could still be implemented at Fukushima and could yet be mandated for water-cooled nuclear-power reactors. A substantial published record exists for the technical development and supportive computations that led to a U.S. patent awarded in 1987 for an LWR ex-vessel water-monitoring system. Subsequent computations reinforce the potential for autonomous monitoring of reactor water and fuel based on correlated high-energy gamma rays that escape from the pressure vessel.
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