roflwaffle -
Quote:
Originally Posted by roflwaffle
In terms of nuclear power what we really need to be "For" are passive cooling and structures capable of withstanding 9+ magnitude quakes, and against skimping on design. This tragedy illustrates that across the board we should prepare for 1000+ year disasters.
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From what I hear (which may be wrong!), there are lots of things that could have been done in hindsight :
1 - House the backup generators in a tsunami-proof location nearby. They were in the basement, became flooded, and therefore useless.
2 - The power connections from the backup generators to the cooling systems were also (obviously) in the flooded basement. The building design could have incorporated multiple power connections from different locations around and above the building.
3 - They did transport new power generators into the site, but I don't know if this was part of an existing Plan-B or just improvisation. You could have heavy lift choppers for generators and diesel fuel on standby for just this scenario. The only requirement would be a high-ground heliport (aka tsunami-proof) that could get the generators and diesel-fuel to the reactor *and* installed before the backup batteries went dead. This does not address the possibility that the helicopters and/or backup-backup generators would *also* be damaged in the initial earthquake.
CarloSW2