New York Times reports U.S. Was Warned on Vents Before Failure at Japan’s Plant.
Five years before the crucial emergency vents at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were disabled by an accident they were supposed to help handle, engineers...warned American regulators about that very problem...at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the design of venting systems was seriously flawed at his reactor and others in the United States similar to the ones in Japan...the vents, which are supposed to relieve pressure at crippled plants and keep containment structures intact, should not be dependent on electric power and workers’ ability to operate critical valves because power might be cut in an emergency and workers might be incapacitated. Part of the reason the venting system in Japan failed — allowing disastrous hydrogen explosions — is that power to the plant was knocked out by a tsunami that followed a major earthquake... “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission cannot claim ignorance about this one.”
Well. Okay. My first and only diary...after six years on this site. (please be kind...[apologies in advance if it sucks].) I never thought I'd ever do a diary. With that in mind, I'll keep this short, sweet and to the point. Attention all fellow kossacks: The New York Times is reporting that the 'U.S. Was Warned on Vents Before Failure at Japan’s Plant.' Matthew Wald writes:
Five years before the crucial emergency vents at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were disabled by an accident they were supposed to help handle, engineers at a reactor in Minnesota warned American regulators about that very problem.
Quite. Interesting. Indeed. I must admit I really never cease to be amazed. Also noteworthy are...
The efforts of engineer Anthony Sarrack and others, who
notified staff members at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the design of venting systems was seriously flawed at his reactor and others in the United States similar to the ones in Japan. He later left the industry in frustration...
As Sarrack noted,
the vents, which are supposed to relieve pressure at crippled plants and keep containment structures intact, should not be dependent on electric power and workers’ ability to operate critical valves because power might be cut in an emergency and workers might be incapacitated. Part of the reason the venting system in Japan failed — allowing disastrous hydrogen explosions — is that power to the plant was knocked out by a tsunami that followed a major earthquake.
He explains,
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission cannot claim ignorance about this one.”
Here's the link. Much more info as it unfolds at New York Times and NHK.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
This is a pretty important, incredible story. It's something to think about. I just wanted to pass this along in case folks were interested and/or were not aware of this. I know it's a short post. (I left a comment on this but it's buried and I'm guessing no one will see it.)
Since I vowed never to write a diary, I'll keep this a brief follow-up to many other excellent diaries on the Fukushima disaster including Emergency vents in 31 U.S. reactors same as ones that failed in Fukushima by Meteor Blades, Fukushima ROV #56 Meltdown Doubt Dispelled by Gilmore, Overview To A Meltdown by Joieau, Radioactivity way up in Seawater from Fukushima 1, 2 & 3 Meltdowns by FishOutofWater, 5/17: Meltdown? What Meltdown? Fukushima ROV #55 by boatsie, Confirmed: Fuel rods at Fukushima reactor have mostly melted. Taxpayer funded bailout announced by Meteor Blades, Fukushima Dai Ichi Unit 1 is officially in a state of Meltdown by Adept2u, and many other fine diaries.
cheers