Could liguid nitrogen divert a nuclear meltdown?

Answer 1

It might be possible to avoid a nuclear meltdown using liquid nitrogen, but you'd have to have an ocean of it. Liquid nitrogen is very cold (obviously), but it does not have a high heat capacity and you'd boil it off very quickly. This means you'd have to have a zillion gallons of LN2 to make a stand to head off a meltdown. Water is a better choice, and there is plenty of it around.

To use water, all you have to do is have Plumbing and electricity to deliver it. Which can be a problem if a natural disaster occurs, like it did in Japan. Fukushima 1 has three reactors that have melted down. We'll have to wait a while to see what the full effects will be.

Answer 2

Liquid nitrogen could potentially be used to cool down the reactor core in a nuclear meltdown situation, as it has a very low temperature. However, it would not be a practical or effective solution due to the massive amount of liquid nitrogen needed and the difficulty of safely delivering and controlling it in such a high-stress environment. Other conventional cooling methods would be more feasible and effective in managing a nuclear meltdown.