nuclear-news

Safety flaws in new nuclear reactor design

Critics Challenge Safety of New Reactor Design, The New York Times, By MATTHEW L. WALD, 21 April 2010, As Southern Company and its partners, armed with federal loan guarantees of $8.3 billion, move toward construction of two new reactors at a site near Augusta, Ga., opponents are taking aim at the design details.

The reactor, the Westinghouse AP 1000, is also planned for several other locations, but has not yet been fully approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is intended to be far safer than existing plants,…………..Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer commissioned by several anti-nuclear groups, released a report suggesting a different hazard.

In existing plants, he pointed out, the containment consists of a steel liner and a concrete dome, but sometimes the steel liner has rusted through.

In the new Westinghouse design, the liner and the concrete are now separated, to allow air to flow between them, so the temperature inside the steel structure will be kept down by natural forces. But if the steel rusts through, “there is no backup containment behind it,’’ Mr. Gundersen said………….If the dome rusted through and an accident occurred, the plant could deliver a dose of radiation to the public that is 10 times higher than the N.R.C. limit, Mr. Gundersen said. Instead of drawing fresh air past the dome through a chimney effect, the design would expel radioactive contaminants. Critics Challenge Safety of New Reactor Design – Green Blog – NYTimes.com

April 23, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | nuclear, nuclear costs, reactor