I agree with you Jed. There are always a large number of unforeseen consequences associated with most complex decisions. The best that we can do is to anticipate the most likely ones and that appears to be what these guys did.
Perhaps engineers should go back and reconsider their previous decisions in light of the serious consequences pertaining to nuclear meltdowns. It may be determined that the risk exceeds the benefits of using nuclear power. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com> Sent: Tue, Sep 16, 2014 10:05 am Subject: Re: [Vo]:NY Times: "Sun and Wind Alter Global Landscape, Leaving Utilities Behind" a.ashfield <a.ashfi...@verizon.net> wrote: I'd love to know if the decision to place the stand-by generators in the basement was a result of budget restraints or a conscious engineering decision. I wouldn't know how that came about. But these reactors are lavishly funded and they usually go way over budget so I doubt there were many budget restraints. I have heard that the fatal flaw was to put the fuel tanks on the seaward side of the buildings. The fuel tanks were enormous, but they were swept away by the tsunami. They had enough generators and equipment to keep the catastrophe under control until the second or third night as I recall, when the main generator ran out of fuel. They did not notice for some time, and by the time they realized it had stopped, the damage was done and things were spiraling out of control. It sounds unbelievably inept to run out of diesel fuel in the middle of the night, but you have to realize these people were working under terrible conditions, with life-threatening radiation, explosions and fires. I have seen actual videos and also dramatizations of the accident on Japanese TV. I have the highest respect for the people who responded to the accident and for the ones who are now trying to contain it. These are brave, competent people, doing their best. After the accident, a memo surfaced saying, "we should worry about the possibility of a large tsunami." In other words, someone foresaw the problem. An expert interviewed on NHK talked about this. He said: "You will always find a memo. We looked into everything; we thought about every possible scenario. If you were to try to eliminate every threat in a project like this, the plant would never be built." I sympathize with that point of view. Technology always carries some risk. We cannot be paralyzed into inaction by fear. In this case, it turned out the risk was much larger than anyone anticipated. (Anyone including me -- not that I'm an expert.) That is tragic but it cannot be helped, and I do not think we should go around looking for a scapegoat to blame it on. - Jed
