tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post4628811387115274936..comments2024-02-16T17:52:44.944-06:00Comments on The Nuclear Green Revolution: A Primer on Nuclear Safety: 1.4 ComplexityCharles Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01125297013064527425noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-53056719581369938502008-07-01T06:30:00.000-05:002008-07-01T06:30:00.000-05:00Bill, The impulse behind the nuclear safety issue ...Bill, The impulse behind the nuclear safety issue is not entirely rational. Never-the-less, the importance of the safety issue for the public was recognized during the Manhattan project by scientist like Fermi. Scientist like Fermi, Teller and Weinberg all viewed safety as the major stumbling block to public acceptance of nuclear power. <BR/><BR/>The Soviets example demonstrated that ignoring reactor safety issues would lead to unacceptable consequences. There are safety issues with the light water reactor that cannot be denied. While itis possible to make LWRs quite safe, it is also expensive to do so. The potential safety advantages of PBRs and LFTRs are undoubtedly among the Keys to loweringt nuclear cost.Charles Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01125297013064527425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-5030263465778982502008-06-30T18:25:00.000-05:002008-06-30T18:25:00.000-05:00CharlesI understand your point of view however the...Charles<BR/><BR/>I understand your point of view however there is another perspective.<BR/><BR/>If a jumbo jet was designed in such a way that it could dive into the ground at 500 miles per hour without hurting anybody, then aircraft accidents would only have an economic cost. That is not possible with airliners, but next generation reactors are designed to contain a full meltdown without hurting anybody. Under these conditions the level of effort expended in preventing accidents can be based on an economic analysis rather than an emotional analysis in which human life is a factor. Spending $100billion to save a $5billion dollar investment once in 500 years makes no sense.<BR/><BR/>By making logical unemotional decision about the level of protection required, nuclear power can produce cheaper kilowatt hours than fossil fuel power plants. By making nuclear powered economically attractive it can replace fossil plants much faster and thereby save far more lives by reducing the emissions from fossil plants and by making energy cheap clean and abundant.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps you are leading up to this point in the future posts.<BR/><BR/>BILL HANNAHANAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-41792828667880623052008-06-30T16:19:00.000-05:002008-06-30T16:19:00.000-05:00Anon. I am trying to explain how a series of impro...Anon. I am trying to explain how a series of improbable events can lead to a major reactor accident. If you would pay attention to my discussion of the history of reactor safety, you will find that i point to a time when the predecessor of the NRC, the AEC, and in especially Milton Shaw, fought bitterly against this concept. There was for a time a continuation of the AEC's legacy at the NRC. I wonder if the Three Mile Island accident reflected that attitudes of the AEC during the early 1970's were not completely dead at the NRC in 1979. <BR/><BR/>There have been cases in which diesel backups in other countries failed to start. So the case of the executive who takes his family on vacation the day before the purchase order lands on his desk, could have happened outside the NRC's jurisdiction, and even if it happened inside the US, I am sure that the NRC would investigate before it fixes blame.Charles Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01125297013064527425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-73885912489108223912008-06-30T15:44:00.000-05:002008-06-30T15:44:00.000-05:00The warranties on the starter batteries were up, b...<I>The warranties on the starter batteries were up, but the request for a purchase order got tied up when an administrator took his family on vacation, and no one realized that the request was parked on his unattended desk.</I><BR/><BR/>Errmmhh, no. There are many modes of failure in a PWR but out of warranty batteries is not among them. If a primary safety equipment in a NPP falls out of compliance, the reactor is closed right away by the NRC. And the administrator doesn't come back from vacation. He's been fired. Same goes for his boss and his boss' boss and so on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com