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tw · 10-15-2001, 01:26 AM

To correct some misconceptions.

TMI 2 resulted from a loss of coolant, a complete cutoff of the emergency cooling system, and control room actions that repeatedly thwarted automatic controls to recover. IOW much the same would happen if a jumbo hit the control room rather than the containment building.

What was to fix after TMI? The problem was top management - GPU - who knew nothing about nuclear power and whose cost control mentality was so ingrained that they would not replace that leaky valve during the maintenace shutdown. That maintenance period has just been completed the previous month, but because the valve cost too much money, then top management decided to not replace it.

TMI1 was not permitted to restart until all GPU management was replaced. TMI1 restart was delayed because the president of GPU refused to resign. The day after he finally did resign is the day that TMI1 got its license renewed for operation. That is the reason for TMI2's failure. Top management whose cost control mentalities were so dominant that TMI2 operators could not get any phone lines (they only had two) and could not place outgoing calls (all circuits were busy).

What would it take to get a high priority phone line into TMI2? A call from GPU top management to Bell of PA. GPU corporate would not even do that. Jimmy Carter finally solved TMI's phone problems by making Bell connect all TMI phone lines directly to the White House switchboard. Yes - it was GPU top management that caused the TMI2 meltdown.

A new core design was recently developed so that a reactor core could shut itself down automatically if it overheated. But that new design is not (as of yet I think) installed in any reactors.

A PWR containment dome is one of the hardest structures on the earth. But the explosion inside TMI2 was almost large enought to burst that structure.

For those of you in the TMI area - did you know that TMI operators were in such a panic over a possible second explosion that they planned to setup monitoring cameras and abandon the site. Therefore Jimmy Carter and wife appearred for a visit - to calm some very scared people. In fact, Carter was on-site being briefed by Denton during the hours that a second explosion was predicted.

Also for those in the TMI area - those emergency cooling pumps should not have survived pumping against closed valves. Eventually one pump failed. Had the second pump failed any time in the one year period after the meltdown, then China Syndrome would have restarted. Yes, the dirty little secret we know today - TMI2 was in that much trouble for up to a year after the event.

Nuclear reactors do not have fuel high enough in U-235 content to become a bomb. To make Uranium into bomb grade material, well, that is what they found in Iraq. It is an expensive, technically challenging, and energy consuming task to convert low grade power reactor fuel into weapons grade uranium. Converting weapons grade fuel back to low grade is easy which is why there is no uranium fuel shortage in todays markets.

Chernobyl is of completely different design. There is no containment dome. The Nuclear reactor is air cooled - much like a British nuclear reactor, long before TMI, that failed and spread radioactivity in a large agricultural area. Also Chernobyl type reactors use graphite as a moderator. But graphite is flammable only making a Chernobyl type design that much more dangerous. Chernobyl did not explode so much as it caught fire. The entire core disappeared - was spread out downwind in the countryside and into the plants basement.

One type of reactor that can make fuel is a breeder reactor. Fermi 1 was to be a breeder reactor that created electricity and more nuclear fuel. Breeders are unstable which is why Detriot was also almost lost to contamination by this major nuclear accident - before TMI.

The Europeans also tried to develop a breeder and failed - after the US gave up. Currently Japan is trying to develop a breeder which is why more than 50% of the world's Plutonium is currently in Japan.

How do you find nuclear power plants? They are marked on automobile road maps. Their existance and location is well documented in newspaper and magazine archives. Locating 100+ nuclear plants in the US is common knowledge.

10-15-2001, 01:26 AM	#26
tw Read? I only know how to write. Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,933	Nuclear Reactors - answering all previous posts To correct some misconceptions. TMI 2 resulted from a loss of coolant, a complete cutoff of the emergency cooling system, and control room actions that repeatedly thwarted automatic controls to recover. IOW much the same would happen if a jumbo hit the control room rather than the containment building. What was to fix after TMI? The problem was top management - GPU - who knew nothing about nuclear power and whose cost control mentality was so ingrained that they would not replace that leaky valve during the maintenace shutdown. That maintenance period has just been completed the previous month, but because the valve cost too much money, then top management decided to not replace it. TMI1 was not permitted to restart until all GPU management was replaced. TMI1 restart was delayed because the president of GPU refused to resign. The day after he finally did resign is the day that TMI1 got its license renewed for operation. That is the reason for TMI2's failure. Top management whose cost control mentalities were so dominant that TMI2 operators could not get any phone lines (they only had two) and could not place outgoing calls (all circuits were busy). What would it take to get a high priority phone line into TMI2? A call from GPU top management to Bell of PA. GPU corporate would not even do that. Jimmy Carter finally solved TMI's phone problems by making Bell connect all TMI phone lines directly to the White House switchboard. Yes - it was GPU top management that caused the TMI2 meltdown. A new core design was recently developed so that a reactor core could shut itself down automatically if it overheated. But that new design is not (as of yet I think) installed in any reactors. A PWR containment dome is one of the hardest structures on the earth. But the explosion inside TMI2 was almost large enought to burst that structure. For those of you in the TMI area - did you know that TMI operators were in such a panic over a possible second explosion that they planned to setup monitoring cameras and abandon the site. Therefore Jimmy Carter and wife appearred for a visit - to calm some very scared people. In fact, Carter was on-site being briefed by Denton during the hours that a second explosion was predicted. Also for those in the TMI area - those emergency cooling pumps should not have survived pumping against closed valves. Eventually one pump failed. Had the second pump failed any time in the one year period after the meltdown, then China Syndrome would have restarted. Yes, the dirty little secret we know today - TMI2 was in that much trouble for up to a year after the event. Nuclear reactors do not have fuel high enough in U-235 content to become a bomb. To make Uranium into bomb grade material, well, that is what they found in Iraq. It is an expensive, technically challenging, and energy consuming task to convert low grade power reactor fuel into weapons grade uranium. Converting weapons grade fuel back to low grade is easy which is why there is no uranium fuel shortage in todays markets. Chernobyl is of completely different design. There is no containment dome. The Nuclear reactor is air cooled - much like a British nuclear reactor, long before TMI, that failed and spread radioactivity in a large agricultural area. Also Chernobyl type reactors use graphite as a moderator. But graphite is flammable only making a Chernobyl type design that much more dangerous. Chernobyl did not explode so much as it caught fire. The entire core disappeared - was spread out downwind in the countryside and into the plants basement. One type of reactor that can make fuel is a breeder reactor. Fermi 1 was to be a breeder reactor that created electricity and more nuclear fuel. Breeders are unstable which is why Detriot was also almost lost to contamination by this major nuclear accident - before TMI. The Europeans also tried to develop a breeder and failed - after the US gave up. Currently Japan is trying to develop a breeder which is why more than 50% of the world's Plutonium is currently in Japan. How do you find nuclear power plants? They are marked on automobile road maps. Their existance and location is well documented in newspaper and magazine archives. Locating 100+ nuclear plants in the US is common knowledge.