Japan Hit By 8.9 Quake; Tsunamis

[ko888]

It looks like yet another hydrogen explosion has occurred at a third reactor at the troubled plant:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42066534/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

Yeh. It seems to be getting worse. Not enough thought went into creating the fail-safes in that early 1970's reactor design by GE.

 

[buwish]

Indeed. I must admit that the plant did well in the quake itself, it was the tsunami that caused all the trouble. I guess the engineers did not think it through in regard where to place the reactors, i.e. not near the sea. However, I've heard that a tsunami like this is a once in a thousand years kind of a deal, so I guess they cannot be faulted in full for the decision to place the plant in its current location.

I will give credit where it is due and that credit is due to the workers who have stuck around the plant to try and avert a full fledged nuclear disaster. Who knows if the radiation readings we've been hearing about on the news are accurate, but if they are anywhere close to those numbers, there is no doubt that those workers are getting a lot of radiation. For some, it may be a suicide mission to stick around.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/japan.nuclear.heroes/index.html?hpt=T1

 

[buwish]

I guess you could say that when the plant was built in the early 70's, the world wasn't as aware of the threat of tsunamis as we are today. There is a better understanding of what causes them and where they will occur today than in the 70's. My point is that when the plant was built, the engineers probably weren't expecting a massive tsunami to move in and wipe out the plant's back up cooling capabilities.

 

[buwish]

I'm curious to know what those containment flaws are and what they did to address those flaws at the Japanese plant, as well as the other plants utilizing the same design.

 

[ko888]

Dale G. Bridenbaugh, the former Scientist/Engineer who resigned from GE, talked to ABC news about his concerns with the containment design back then.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fukus...-caused-ge-scientist/story?id=13141287&page=1

 

[Reynod]

This topic has been closed by Reynod