Proponents of nuclear power, back in the days of anti-nuclear protests following Three Mile Island, believed that people feared nuclear power because they feared the unknown. With the current disaster unfolding in Japan, however, I’m beginning to think that I didn’t fear nuclear power because of what I didn’t know. I didn’t know you couldn’t turn it off.
Here is the standard education in nuclear power provided to someone who got a pretty good education by 1970s standards, and has a very good long term memory. The nuclear reaction is controlled by control rods. You pull them out to start the reaction, and put them in to shut it off. You are safe, because of the control rods. Well in Japan, the reactors survived the earthquake. They survived the tsunami. The control rods were inserted. But the tsunami knocked out power to the plant, shutting it off. And when it shut off it went into self destruct mode.
This is not what I would have expected based on what I was taught. It appears that if a nuclear plant stops working for whatever reason, it self destructs. It does not “fail safe” — just turn off — because it can’t really be turned off. It continues to generate enough heat to cause a meltdown. Even the used nuclear fuel continues to generate enough heat to cause a radioactive release.
How many folks understood this a week ago?
For example, there is spent nuclear fuel in pools at every nuclear plant in the U.S. How many people knew that if it was just left alone, for whatever reason, it would explode and spew radition? I though the main risk was that something from outside would happen to it.
Same with the reactors. Let’s say terrorists attacked Indian Point, so the operators shut down the reactor. Then terrorists cut the power cables, shutting down the plant, spread Antrax everywhere, and left after ordering the operators to leave also. How many would knew that if a nuclear plant is not turned back on ver quickly, it will begin to self destruct even with the control rods inserted?
Right now, over in Japan, plant workers are being asked to risk death to manage the plant, because they can’t turn it off. If they leave, the plant self destructs and radiation contaminates large areas.
This is the issue nuclear operators need to address. I thought you could turn a nuclear plant off, but it turns out you can’t.