Did you know the nuclear reactors amp the back up generators in japan survived the earthquake amp tsunami both?

Park Ridge

And the back up generators ran out of diesel? And that's what caused the meltdown? Isn't this inexcusable that they wouldn't have enough diesel to last for days? This whole mess could have easily been avoided. http://news. discovery. com/earth/nuclear-…



Goldston

the link that you provided says that when they ran out of gas the Battery Powered Back Up kicked in as planned! maybe you should have kept reading_____________your link doesn't say that. it says that they did in fact pump seawater into the reactor successfully.________________from your link/source..."Eventually, plant operators resorted to pumping seawater into three of the reactors in an attempt to keep heat to manageable levels.""Normally, you don't pump seawater into a reactor. Water in a reactor is really, really purified and the seawater is not what you want to have going in there. The cost of cleaning out the seawater is not economic. So if you see seawater going into a reactor, that means at some point this reactor is going to be put out of service prior to its design life," Williams told Discovery News.



Bourbon

That isn't true. The generators and their fuel tanks were subjected to the tsunami as well. I know of no diesel generator in the world that can withstand submersion in 30 feet of filthy sea water and then run with water-logged fuel. Ask any mariner that operates a diesel powered vessel what happens if even a small amount of sea water gets into the fuel system. Any engine that is immersed in water will not function. It can't function it is Hydrolocked. *



Ketchikan

The reactors did not survive!!!!!The Earthquake damaged Reactors 1 2 and 3's cooling systems and all 3 of them have suffered explosions 2 fully contained. The Tsunami has flooded most of the reactors and salt water is very corrosive and will make the reactors fall apart. The power plant will probably be decommissioned because it will be more cost effective to do that than to decontaminate and/or rebuild the reactors



Bear Creek

Pebble bed reactors don't need a coolant - other than air. And if the fuel is thorium - the waste lasts 500 years vs 10,000 and Thorium can't be weaponized into Plutonium. There's solutions to every problem if you think outside of the box.



Convoy

Nope. Did you know that if the nuclear reactors did not exist, there would fail nolens volens nuclear meltdown or uncleanness in Japan right now?



Waldport

Well, at least that report is less distressing than other dire predictions I've seen of what the impact might be of the reactor damage.



Custer City

Yes. "...battery-powered backups kicked in".BS. Read your own link.



Fronton

Well that has always been my no. 1 concern about Nuclear energy - Human error.



Rancho Santa Fe

You probably never heard of the Japanese economic Kan-Ban principle.



Shady Hollow

No, I was not aware of that. They probably assumed that somebody would be able to supply them with fuel.



Lake of the Pines

Well lets hope the American Nuke regulators took notice so that when our turn comes, not if, but when, and come it will, they will be able to save us all...not gonna bet on it though.



Bolinas

It's easy to say that in hindsight...