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To: Errant
Well, from what we know at this point, they were doing exactly that, until the tsunami disabled the diesel generators. Without the tsunami taking out the diesels, there would be no accident.

Like I said, common mode failure. The industry will have to look at what it will take for plants sited in various locales to assure that the backup power is maintained.

Nuclear plant shutdown is largely automated. I worked on a system in the early 1980s, ATOG (anticipated transient operating guidelines) that gave a visual representation of the plant status on a graphical display. A moving dot represented the plant state as a function of various process parameters, vessel pressure, downcomer temperature, time, main steam pressure, whatever the operator wanted to call up. The integrated control system would keep that little old dot right in the middle, the "sweet spot", of all the various conditions, to achieve cold shutdown as quickly as possible with minimal challenges to the safety systems.

228 posted on 03/15/2011 12:20:43 PM PDT by chimera
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To: chimera
These things are TOO DAMN DANGEROUS and the consequences of failure TOO FAR REACHING for anything other than something like a "pebble bed" system to ever be built again - PERIOD.

WE need the power, but let's quit being stupid here and apply or invent the technology to ensure that not even an incoming meteor will create this kind of threat to humanity or the world again.

236 posted on 03/15/2011 12:42:05 PM PDT by Errant
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