Rick
09-05-2011, 07:55 PM
I'm a tad paranoid about nuclear reactors. There are 8 or 9 "upwind" of me and several of them that are around 30 years old. I've always said the U.S. has had an admirable safety record but a simple problem can become a huge problem in short order.
Then I found the nuclear web site of the Union of Concerned Scientists. I know some of you don't put a lot of faith in them but I tend to. I've followed them down through the years and they've been pretty on the mark with most of their claims. Let's look at some of their claims for U.S. nuclear reactors.
Most of them have had ground water leaks.
Many have had fire protection problems.
Many have had near misses*
Many have had involuntary shutdowns that exceeded 1 year!!!!!
Guards that have been found asleep on the job.
Security with removed firing pins in their weapons.
*Near misses are events where combinations of broken or impaired safety equipment and/or poor worker performance spurred the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to send a special inspection team, augmented inspection team, or incident investigation team to the site. The NRC dispatches a special inspection team when conditions may increase the chance of reactor core damage by a factor of 10. An augmented inspection team is sent when the risk can be increased by a factor of 100. An incident investigation team is sent when the risk was increased by a factor of 1,000 or more.
Reading through their reports is like watching an episode of The Simpsons with Homer at work.
It looks to me like the worst site is in Southport, North Carolina and the best may be in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.
Now I'm paranoid that I'm not paranoid enough! Anyway, here's a link to their map. The safety issues key is on the right. If you click on a reactor you can see what issues it has had. Click on its link and you can read the write up.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/reactor-map/embedded-flash-map.html
Then I found the nuclear web site of the Union of Concerned Scientists. I know some of you don't put a lot of faith in them but I tend to. I've followed them down through the years and they've been pretty on the mark with most of their claims. Let's look at some of their claims for U.S. nuclear reactors.
Most of them have had ground water leaks.
Many have had fire protection problems.
Many have had near misses*
Many have had involuntary shutdowns that exceeded 1 year!!!!!
Guards that have been found asleep on the job.
Security with removed firing pins in their weapons.
*Near misses are events where combinations of broken or impaired safety equipment and/or poor worker performance spurred the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to send a special inspection team, augmented inspection team, or incident investigation team to the site. The NRC dispatches a special inspection team when conditions may increase the chance of reactor core damage by a factor of 10. An augmented inspection team is sent when the risk can be increased by a factor of 100. An incident investigation team is sent when the risk was increased by a factor of 1,000 or more.
Reading through their reports is like watching an episode of The Simpsons with Homer at work.
It looks to me like the worst site is in Southport, North Carolina and the best may be in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.
Now I'm paranoid that I'm not paranoid enough! Anyway, here's a link to their map. The safety issues key is on the right. If you click on a reactor you can see what issues it has had. Click on its link and you can read the write up.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/reactor-map/embedded-flash-map.html