Hurricane Sandy May Score a Direct Hit On Spent Fuel Pools at Nuclear Plant

Hurricane Sandy May Score a Direct Hit On Spent Fuel Pools at Nuclear Plant

www.zerohedge.com

Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says that there are actually 26 nuclear plants in the path of the hurricane, and that the spent fuel pools in the plants don't have backup pumps (summary via EneNews):

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

(visit the link for the full news article)

What this sounds like, and I am not trying to be an alarmist, is that even if they successfully shut down the power plants, a failure of power could jeopardize the cooling pools that contain the spent fuel rods.

Without a continual source of cooling, this spent fuel will get hot and do generally bad things. Diesel generators a were not put into place.

www.zerohedge.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hurricane fearmonger is at it again... oops i ment sandy

Well those plants are old and in the end of their lifetime. I would be very worried, people tend to believe the best and trust technology away too much, when disaster is right there and you just don´t see it.

The average age of U.S. commercial reactors is about 32 years. The oldest operating reactors are Oyster Creek in New Jersey, and Nine Mile Point 1 in New York. Both entered commercial service on December 1, 1969. The last newly built reactor to enter service was Watts Bar 1 in Tennessee, in 1996.

U.S. commercial nuclear reactors are licensed to operate for 40 years by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Prior to termination of the original license, companies may apply to the NRC for 20-year license extensions

NRC prepared for Hurricane Sandy

Maybe everyone should bring their rain barrels there I don't know what their backup systems consist of so I can't really give a comment either way.

Possible problems wit 26 nuclear plants is being disucssed here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please add further comments to the ongoing discussion in the above linked thread.
Thanks

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