The issues with nuclear power plant operations are both a demographics and an insurance thing.
Most nuclear control room operators are ex-USN submarine or carrier nuclear power plant operators between 40 and 60 years of age.
Nuclear power plant operators hire ex-military with that background because it saves on certification training costs.
The issue here is that after Fukishima, You can expect that between case percentage of those age cohorts, and post exposure quarantine, nuclear plants will get shut down by the operators simply to keep their insurance.
Let’s put that another way.
What chance do you see of the House passing a Federal government insurance indemnification of nuclear power plant operators for running their plant with the less than NRC work force?
My analysis of the chances of that happening are slim and none, and slim left the building after the Three Mile Island incident.
Zero chance nuclear plants get shut down—.gov would nationalize them first...
Sounds like something they could move some military in for?
This was on another forum I frequent —
“I expect there will be some (possibly significant) impacts to the power grid.
I am a large hydroelectric control room operator in Northern California. Luckily, my management has implemented a fairly solid risk reduction plan. Only one operator in the control room, shift turnover via email and phone calls, no maintenance staff reporting to work unless called in, and strict disinfection protocols. Will this keep us from getting sick? No chance. Hopefully it might slow the spread, and allow enough of us to keep working at any given time going forward.
I do worry about some of the more manpower heavy power plants (large gas powered or nuclear plants). They cannot operate with as lean of a crew as we can here.
And we aren’t even talking about the effects on line crews (they cannot work alone) or supply chain disruptions.”
I would think there’s some sort of provision in the National Emergency Act for things like that.