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Are Most Nuclear Power Plants Vulnerable?

George Washington's picture




 

Whenever there is a disaster, those responsible claim it was "unforeseeable" so as to escape blame.

For example:

  • It happened with 9/11

The big boys gamble with our lives and our livelihoods,
because they make a killing by taking huge risks and cutting costs.
And when things inevitably go South, they aren't held responsible (other
than a slap on the wrist), and may even be bailed out by the
government.

Are All Nuclear Power Plants Vulnerable?

Much
of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex has experienced
difficulties because the earthquake knocked out the main power, and then
the tsunami destroyed the backup diesel generators.

Of course, many other reactors are built in seismically active areas. But that's not my point.

Nasa
scientists are predicting that a solar storm will knock out most of the
electrical power grid in many countries worldwide, perhaps for months. See this, this, this, this, this, this and this.

Indeed, the Earth's magnetic field protects us from the sun's most violent radiation, and yet the magnetic field fluctuates over time. As the Telegraph reported in 2008:

Large
hole in magnetic field that protects Earth from sun's rays ... Recent
satellite observations have revealed the largest breach yet seen in the
magnetic field that protects Earth from most of the sun's violent
blasts.

I'm not predicting some 2012 Mayan catastrophe. I
am simply warning that a large solar storm - as Nasa is predicting -
could knock out power throughout much of the world, especially if the earth's magnetic field happens to be weak at the time.

What
would happen to nuclear power plants world wide if their power - and
most of the surrounding modern infrastructure - is knocked out?

Nuclear power companies are notoriously cheap in trying to cut costs. If they are failing to harden their electrical components to protect against the predicted solar storm, they are asking for trouble
... perhaps on a scale that dwarfs Fukushima. Because while Fukushima
is the first nuclear accident to involve multiple reactors within the
same complex, a large solar storm could cause accidents at multiple
complexes in numerous countries.

If the nuclear power companies
and governments continue to cut costs and take large gambles, the next
nuclear accident could make Fukushima look tame.

I'm not saying
this will happen in 2012, or 2013 (although Nasa appears to be hinting
at this). But a large solar storm which knocks out electrical grids
over wide portions of the planet will happen at some point in the future.

Don't pretend it is unforeseeable. The nuclear power industry is on notice that it must spend the relatively small amounts of money necessary to prevent a widespread meltdown from the loss of power due to a solar storm.

Note:
Future generations of nuclear reactors will presumably run at lower
temperatures and will store spent rods in a safer manner.

But
most current reactors are of a similarly outdated design as the
Fukushima reactors, where the cooling systems require electricity to
operate, and huge amounts of spent radioactive fuel are housed on-site, requiring continuous cooling to prevent radioactive release.

Giant hat tip: Reptil.

 

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Sun, 04/10/2011 - 22:13 | 1156477 fallst
fallst's picture

Heres the best site

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/solar-cycle/solar-superstorm-1859-it-can-happen-again/

EHV could be replaced lower tech/power conventionals.

I would think we could also disconnect transformers before flare arrives. Its the 220K miles of wiring, acting as an antenna, that zaps the transformers and VCT's.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 22:06 | 1156455 BulldogHedgehog
BulldogHedgehog's picture

@ sun tzu.  Our Air Traffic is controlled by systems still using Fortran, a languaged deemed "dead" in the early 1970's.  Our automobile systems have more advanced navigation devices than most commercial jets in the air, save for UPS and FedEx.  If you think one bridge was bad and it was a design flaw, you are a fool.  Well regarded Engineer societies beg to differ, not the media.

Ah, try again Sun, you look at dividends through the eyes of the company and not the shareholder. Dividends are the cheapest, quickest taxable income the wealthy have at 15%, regardless of what the company thinks.   Companies are there to be milked by the shareholders with the most influence, which generally are those with the highest percent...  Your failing is actually thinking that companies make decisions for the betterment of the company.  Companies are cajoled into making decisions for the betterment of the shareholder(largest) first, the company second, and the customer third.  You are naive to think any differently.

Chernobyl happened, but had little to do with what "ism" it was under.  A disregard for safety for whatever reason is just that.  However, the USSR was never a true socialistic society, but an oligarchy behind the veil of socialism.  It is not too different today than it was then; one man ruling by fear and distributing the wealth to the few chosen.  No one expects a world with zero risk, but it would be nice if reasonable care was taken over the desire for outsized profit.  I have no problem with profit and think many things in the world are much better for the pursuit of it, but at the extremes all things can have negative outcomes.

No one wants you to live under a rock fearing what you can't control.  It can't hurt to at least know where the problems are so they can be taken into consideration when making decisions.  Or was nothing like that discussed in the writings you cleverly emulate with your username?

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 20:39 | 1156179 fallst
fallst's picture

EHV Transformers dont grow on trees.

Could take Years to replace all damaged EHVT's.

Double up your Deer Park water deliveries.

(Disclaimer: Not in the water industry)

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:31 | 1155932 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

George Washington for President!  George crushes all!  See this, this, and this.  George, you rule!  Keep it up.  Hey, and about that hole 9/11 thing...

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/sec-government-destroyed-documents-rega...

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:20 | 1155914 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Has there ever existed a world with zero risk? I am not going to freak out over something I have no control over. 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 17:49 | 1155763 BulldogHedgehog
BulldogHedgehog's picture

It's all infrastructure---bridges, our antiquated air traffic control system, our aircraft (the recent SouthWest Air incidents).  Our failure to reinvest and/or invest correctly in the first place (the willingness to go with the lowest bid and not to go with the bid that will get it done correctly...) e.g. Lucas Oil Stadium, a couple years old and host stadium for the Superbowl (if the NFL and players get their stuff straight), yet they are replacing most of the water piping in it because it is corroding and leaking.  A couple years old...  We live in a society that value cheap and good enough until it bites us in the rear.  We live in capitalistic society that penalizes companies for re-investing in their companies instead of paying out to shareholders.  Shareholders would rather have a 5-6% dividend from T or VZ instead of quality connections, faster data-rates, and fewer drops... 

Will a nuclear accident happen hear?  There can be no doubt if, only the when.  We have mining companies that circumvent safety for profits because the accounting makes sense...settlement on some deaths in exchange for profits that are multiples of the settlement cost.  Same with BP.  Until society decides this is criminal behavior, the behavior is not likely to be modified.  When a middle management pencil pusher has to go to real prison for real manslaughter/homicide charges and bunks with Bobby-Joe who's a serial killer, then corporate actions will change

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:33 | 1155940 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

We had one bridge collapse, due to bad design, and everyone freaks out over our "antiquated" infrastructure that is "falling apart" and we're all going to die. One bridge out of tens of thousands. Stop parroting the media. Our air traffic control system is the best in the world. It's not perfect because it involves humans who are not perfect. How many accidents have we had due to our horrible air traffic control system? Was it due to the system or the people who made mistakes? There is nothing we can do but give them good training and supervision. They are paid over $100,000K, so don't try to imply that we are going cheap there. 

For some reason you think that spending more money on a construction project will yield better results. How did that go with the Big Dig in Boston? The project was estimated at $2.8 billion and they have now spent $22 billion and it is still full of problems, leaks and the collapsing ceiling.

The tax law penalizes dividends, not reinvestment. Dividends are double taxed. Investments are expensed against gross income. Try again. 

Should management be sent to prison for malevolent or reckless decisions? Of course. Will it mean that no more industrial accidents occur? No.

There was no capitalism in the USSR, yet Chernobyl was the worst nuclear accident in history. After the USSR collapsed, we found out how their environment had been raped, radioactive materials were dumped in lakes, rivers, and oceans. TheArtic Ocean actually glowed at night due to radioactive wasted dumped there. No profits involved. How did that happen?

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 20:48 | 1156205 gall batter
gall batter's picture

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Nearly-10-percent-of-Ohio-bridges-termed-structurally-deficient

And if you don't want to hit the link, this is an excerpt:

 


Workers have begun setting pilings for the new Innerbelt Bridge near Downtown Cleveland.

The current bridge is one of the busiest in the state of Ohio and has been deemed 'structurally deficient'.

But Ohio, and the country, have many thousands of bridges that share the same designation. In all, 68,842 of the 599,996 bridges in the United States, a total of 11.5 percent are deficient, according to a new report by Transportation for America, which compiled and analyzed federal bridge data then ranked the states by percentage of bridges that are deficient.

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 20:15 | 1156095 Savonarola
Savonarola's picture

Ahh my friend, you have hit on something very important.

They all trusted scientists and engineers to make the world a better place... through science. What horseshit. 

Read about Project Plowshare to find out how totally messed up the mind of a scientist can be.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 18:43 | 1155858 bonin006
bonin006's picture

Plenty of middle manager pencil pushers avalable for sacrifice. They won't change until CEOs and board members start start bunking with Bubba.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 17:33 | 1155738 XitSam
XitSam's picture

Yawn. Another GW post on something that might happen. Go write for the Weekly World News. And George, you're nothing like your namesake.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 18:50 | 1155859 Matte_Black
Matte_Black's picture

*Yawn*

Need a nap? 2008 was something that might happen til it did happen.

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 17:34 | 1155737 Astute Investor
Astute Investor's picture

People see what they want to see.

People don't see what they don't want to see.

It's that simple.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 17:24 | 1155721 Matte_Black
Matte_Black's picture

Great post, Mr. Washington. You are right. It seems to me that the only ones who don't seem capable predicting events like these are those charged with doing so. Go figure. Here are a few stories I found. If they've already been posted, my apologies.

http://enenews.com/japanese-experts-effort-is-in-danger-of-failing-react...

http://enenews.com/arkansas-milk-300-above-epas-maximum-contaminant-leve...

http://enenews.com/human-embryos-bioaccumulating-radioactive-iodine-cesi...

http://enenews.com/fukushima-workers-transported-the-hospital-in-bad-sha...

 

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 20:55 | 1156223 hardcleareye
hardcleareye's picture

Wow, interesting reads, thanks for the links.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 17:19 | 1155708 Mr. Mandelbrot
Mr. Mandelbrot's picture

Fukishima reportedly on fire as of last night.  Web cams taken down after a smoke-filled last shot . . .

 

http://www.lucaswhitefieldhixson.com/fukushima-flames-april-10th-2011

 

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 16:16 | 1155583 tamboo
tamboo's picture

sooo more problems at another japanese reactor and in russia plus eight reactors shut down in germany? more acts of god eh?

http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Stuxnet-also-found-at-industr...

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 16:15 | 1155579 BlakeFelix
BlakeFelix's picture

hm.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 15:38 | 1155515 Ruffcut
Ruffcut's picture

True Dat, Georgie. This is a game changer. The nuke plants at a huge risk.

If the plants started with generators with faraday cage protection, then they could operate the cooling systems. I don't they care, though. The rest of the power grid might be able to shut down enuff for protection? The military only knows.

1859 was some shit that could throw us back to the stone age and without protective measures will kill many millions.

May is the month I build a faraday cage for my diesel genset. If you are to prepare, then don't be half ass about. (wish I knew how to best protect a well pump, though.) Oh, and get some old microwave ovens to store HH radios, batterys and that shit. Oh, and some good walkin shoes.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 15:37 | 1155510 Zer0head
Zer0head's picture

Stiglitz was interviewed by some left wing news site but his interview is quite to the point as among other things he compares the risks taken by our banker friends to the risks taken by BP and by TEPCO.

 

video part one (scroll ot minute 9 for comments on BP or better still enjoy the full interview)

http://bit.ly/i7iDJ1

video part two

http://bit.ly/dEgULq

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 15:36 | 1155509 Urban Roman
Urban Roman's picture

And to all those who have some new super-safe nuclear technology, which will create fission products that decay away to nothing after "only 500 years"...

How many human enterprises have an unblemished 500 year log safety record? What language were your ancestors speaking 500 years ago? (hint: it wasn't English)

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 15:33 | 1155504 Treason Season
Treason Season's picture

Nuke reactors = Illuminati time bombs

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 15:27 | 1155489 Quixote2
Quixote2's picture

The new Gen 3 supersafe reactors are designed safe with passive cooling and no outside power for 72 hours.  Three days you have to get outside power or top off the diesel generators.  And how long do emergency diesel generators typically operate without failure?

Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:35 | 1157647 Reptil
Reptil's picture

Diesel generators are also at risk. We need plants that shut down and stay safe without the need for any power. If the nuclear industry can't or doesn't want to comply and meet this basic requirement, keeping any nuclear power plant running is like setting up a "self destruct button" for our planet.

 

IMO that this is not adressed right now is incredibly stupid. It says a lot about who's in charge and their abillity to think and plan ahead.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:50 | 1155396 Sappho
Sappho's picture

First of all, I am not Sappho.  The opportunity appeared for me to possibly comment so I'm giving it a try.

Good article.  And, sure enough there seems to be no way out of a possible disaster with older reactors.  Anyway, no way out without spending 2-10 times the original cost of the installation.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 17:32 | 1155668 Matte_Black
Matte_Black's picture

Welcome, Sappho. I agree with you. Much investment is needed to secure our nuke facilities before the unthinkable happens.

On a wider scale, complexity is unraveling in every domain. Personally, I'm resigned to an ignoble fate. I live at the tail end of the baby boom, and consequently at the tail end of every boom it seems. The next boom probably won't be a happy one.

Welcome to ZH.

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:44 | 1155374 Pseudo Anonym
Pseudo Anonym's picture

Are All Nuclear Power Plants Vulnerable?

perhaps not all; but the ones with shitty safety record and "nearly" impeccable track record of radiation leaks cover-ups, such as Bruce Power in Tiverton Ontario, are.  All employees at Bruce Power must sign a non-disclosure agreement - otherwise fired w/o pension and benefits + law suit for breach of contract. Also, those employees that refuse to sign "massaged" safety compliance reports for Bruce Power to pass safety requirements, are harassed and must submit themselves to a psychological examination.  If even a "company" psychologist cannot convince these employees to tow the corporate line, they are declared mentally unstable due to work related stress; and then let go with the understanding that law suit will follow in case of non-disclosure compliance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Nuclear_Generating_Station

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2010/02/16/bruce-power-nucle...

how convenient:

http://tinyurl.com/3uapow6

 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:54 | 1155405 CH1
CH1's picture

I know several engineers at US plants who were fired/demoted/punished for refusing to falsify test reports. Sick.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:38 | 1155948 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Which US plants and why didn't they blow the whistle or go to the media after they were fired?

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:36 | 1155947 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Which US plants and why didn't they blow the whistle or go to the media after they were fired?

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:27 | 1155333 Drag Racer
Drag Racer's picture

crap GW, just crap. hole on a magnetic field... just crap

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:47 | 1155378 flattrader
flattrader's picture

"Hole" was a poor choice of words on the part of the Telegraph.

A "weakening of the field" is a more appropriate description.

Google South Atlantic Anomoly and get back to us.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 15:14 | 1155453 Drag Racer
Drag Racer's picture

it is not a weakening either. just a place in the field that is not ubiform with the rest of the field. or you can continue to listen to GLP crap.

NASA dies not seem to be concerned...

http://search.nasa.gov/search/search.jsp?nasaInclude=South+Atlantic+Anomaly

Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:25 | 1157608 Reptil
Reptil's picture

NASA is not in charge or responsible for the safety of nuclear plants.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 16:17 | 1155588 flattrader
flattrader's picture

Google earth's weakening magnetic field

Plenty to read.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:14 | 1155297 apberusdisvet
apberusdisvet's picture

Forget the blue pill, have the red one handy. I would imagine that if such an event occurred,  the overwhelming majority would survive less than 6 months.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:26 | 1155334 D1eeeeeNAHHHHH
D1eeeeeNAHHHHH's picture

Right now we may see the world's life expectancy fall dramatically due to cancer.  Reports from many parts of the US are finding different types of radiation in food and rain water.

It's amazing how successful the media has been at hiding true pollution such as radiation, flouride, chemical dumping, drugs not being filtered out our drainage (people urinate out drugs they use) and being reintroduced into drinking water.

People have become either so busy, poor from debt, paperworked 10 hours a week with taxes and bills and confused by media that they won't look at nonmainstream news.

Think of what would happen if ZH had a network station.  There would probably be more people working for themselves and possibly a revolt as the people begin to realize how they are being shafted.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:14 | 1155906 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

We all know that the world's life expectancy fell dramatically after Chernobyl 

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:06 | 1155270 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Don't forget to mention how most consumers are loathe to see their rates go up for any reason whatsoever.

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 19:12 | 1155902 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Yes those pesky consumers trying to pay their bills and feed their families. Let them eat cake. 

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