David Roberson <[email protected]> wrote: This information does not build up my confidence in nuclear reactors > located on shorelines. >
They are all on the shoreline in Japan. They use ocean water for cooling. > Perhaps a need exists for some form of absolute kill mechanism that can > be called upon in such an emergency. > Reactors are SCRAM'ed of course, but it is physically impossible to keep them from generating heat. You have to cool them down for many days. I think the problem can be addressed by putting emergency generators far above the waterline, perhaps in the second story of the reactor building. The Fukushima disaster was caused by the tsunami destroying the Diesel fuel tanks. The tsunami did not destroy the reactor itself, although water did get into the buildings I think. If the fuel tank and generator had survived there would have been no disaster. The disaster was made worse by a mistake made a few days into the disaster. They brought in an emergency Diesel. It ran out of fuel during the night. No one noticed. That sounds like an incredibly stupid mistake, but it is understandable. The people were working under extreme duress, similar to soldiers in a battlefield. They were facing extreme peril, with intense radiation and explosions all around them. They had gone without sleep for days. - Jed
