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March 14, 2011<br>
Japan: The Reactor Risk<br>
<br>
Posted by Elizabeth Kolbert<br>
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The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not have a
listing for “meltdown” in its glossary of terms. The closest you get
is “core melt accident,” which the NRC defines as “an event or
sequence of events that result in the melting of part of the fuel in
the reactor core.” In the case of a “core melt accident,” a
reactor’s nuclear fuel rods overheat and, at a temperature of
several thousand degrees, quite literally begin to melt.<br>
<br>
The Three Mile Island disaster, in 1979, is often described as a
“partial core meltdown.” In that case, the reactor vessel, which
houses the reactor behind thick walls of steel and concrete, was not
breached. The Chernobyl disaster, in 1986, resulted in a rupture of
the reactor vessel and the wide dispersal of radioactive particles.
However, since Russian reactor design is very different from
American (and Japanese), most experts argue that the Chernobyl
accident does not offer much information that is useful outside of
Russia. (I wrote about another plant, Indian Point, in 2003.)<br>
<br>
The obvious worry about the damaged reactors in Japan is that one or
more of them will suffer a complete meltdown—however you define
that. (It seems that two have already probably suffered “partial
meltdowns.”) What would happen then is not entirely clear, which in
itself is rather terrifying. A great deal, it seems, would depend on
the strength and integrity of the reactor vessels. The plant’s
secondary containment buildings have already been breached by
explosions. Japanese officials are apparently very worried about the
unfortunately very real possibility of meltdown; this is why they
have flooded the damaged reactors with seawater. Although they seem
to be trying to downplay the risks from the damaged plants, their
actions suggest that they believe the risks of (further) catastrophe
to be significant.<br>
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Read more
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/03/japan-the-reactor-risk.html?printable=true&currentPage=all#ixzz1GbFOxWIb">http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/03/japan-the-reactor-risk.html?printable=true&currentPage=all#ixzz1GbFOxWIb</a><br>
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On 3/14/11 6:03 AM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:4D7DF61A.5040701@illinois.edu" type="cite">
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<p>{From
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,750773,00.html"><http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,750773,00.html></a>.]<br>
</p>
<p>...The fact that Japan, which was once considered a miracle
economy, was on the verge of a nuclear disaster could be far
more devastating to the nuclear industry than the Soviet reactor
catastrophe in Chernobyl could ever have been a quarter century
ago.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="spMInline"> <span class="quchnoad" style="display:
none;"></span> </div>
Admittedly, Japan is in an earthquake zone, which puts it at
greater risk than countries like Germany and France. But Japan
also happens to be a leading industrialized nation, a country
where well-trained, pedantically precise engineers build the
world's most advanced and reliable cars.
<p>When the Chernobyl accident occurred, Germany's nuclear
industry managed to convince itself, and German citizens, that
aging reactors and incapable, sloppy engineers in Eastern Europe
were to blame. Western reactors, or so the industry claimed,
were more modern, better maintained and simply safer.</p>
<p>It is now clear how arrogant this self-assured attitude is. If
an accident of this magnitude could happen in Japan, it can
happen just as easily in Germany. All that's needed is the right
chain of fatal circumstances. Fukushima is everywhere...</p>
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