nuclear-news

AUDIO: Hazards of power loss, in nuclear reactors’ shutdown

Gundersen: 26 nuclear plants in area where Hurricane Sandy likely to hit — If power lost, only plan is to let spent fuel pools heat up… no generators to pump in water (AUDIO)  http://enenews.com/gundersen-26-nuclear-plants-area-hurricane-sandy-hit-power-lost-only-plan-spent-fuel-pools-heat-diesel-generators-pump-water-audio October 28th, 2012

Transcript Summary of an excerpt from the October 28, 2012 podcast by Fairewinds Energy Education:

You’ll hear in the next 2 days, “We’ve safely shutdown the plant”
What Fukushima taught us is that doesn’t stop the decay heat
You need the diesels to keep the reactors cool
26 plants in the East Coast are in the area where Sandy is likely to hit
Fuel pools not cooled by diesels, no one wanted to buy them
If recent refuel, hot fuel will throw off more and more moisture from pool
Reactor buildings not meant to handle the high humidity
Fuel pool liner not really designed to approach boiling water, may unzip if water gets too hot
A lot of problems with allowing fuel pool to over
Need water in around 2 days if hot fuel in pool
The only fall-back if power is lost is to let fuel pools heat up

October 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual, safety