The last few years has been pretty much a nonstop ride of positive safety PR for the nuclear power industry, right? I mean, this is an technology that absorbed an enormous earthquake and tsunami and barely even killed anyone/left whole towns uninhabitable/terrified the world. Nuclear power couldn't even bring harm to
OK, now you done pissed off this gay Democrat nuclear plant engineer. Ah, where to start....<br />Yes Josh (MY HERO!!), we drill more on external attacks now than on internal accidents, because probabalistic risk analysis has determined that they are more likely to occur. (Yes, there are jobs for math majors outside of insurance and baseball.) It really is more likely that some dingus will set up 200 yds from a plant with a shoulder rocket launcher, or load a bread truck full of fertilizer, than it is that an internal accident will occur. Why? Because there are a lot of dinguses out there.<br />&quot;..the Feds have relaxed the safety regulations for nuclear power plants operating beyond their design life&quot; - no idea where you&#039;re getting that. License extension from 40 yrs to 60 yrs is a reality, but we have hundreds of issues to address to justify it before it&#039;s granted. Fewer than 10 units (of 103) have reached 40 yrs so far, average age is ~30.<br />
I have a dozen or so friends who are flight attendants, and all of them get more radiation dose in a year than I have received total in my nuclear career (24 yrs). They just don&#039;t realize it. Americans get 620 mR per year of natural radiation from the earth and sun (or 6.2 mSv for you metric weirdos), more if you live in PA mine country or in Denver. Average airline flight crew annual dose is 219 mR. Nuclear plant workers are allowed 5000 mR per year, maybe 5% approach 500 mR. Most get &lt;10 mR. &lt;BR&gt;People are afraid of what they don&#039;t understand. I live 6.6 miles by road from a nuclear plant, probably 3 miles as the crow flies. I couldn&#039;t care less. Many of my neighbors apparently are unaware of its existence. And you know what - they need not be. I would be more concerned about what chemicals are in my processed meat meals (ugh!!) than that.
Unfortunately, it&#039;s never immediate unless there&#039;s a bomb involved. Even if you climbed into the core and back out, it would take several horrific hours.
Hot-and-cool cycles is a low-cycle process. This tube wear is a high-cycle process - from flow-induced vibration. We know that&#039;s what it is, we just don&#039;t know why. No tube is going to leak, it will be plugged long before it gets to that point.
The allowable crack length in an aluminum aircraft skin is about 3 feet. Because the mechanism is known and the growth rate is predictable. That is also why most metallurgists drink heavily before they fly.
You almost certainly mean Oconee Nuclear Station - Keowee-Toxaway is a hydroelectric project. Pretty up there, though. But you are right, the crappy drivers are the main threat, paint chips and leaded water somewhat less so.
<i>&quot;...nuclear power plants operating beyond their design life...&quot;</i>
(That&#039;s a phrase usually associated with Albania or Uz-becki-becki-becki-stan-stan.)
We should insist that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission members only travel by aircraft that are operating beyond their design life. If that&#039;s good enough for nuclear plants, it must be good enough for something as simple as an airplane.
I think the Hamptons, Cos Cob, and Martha&#039;s Vineyard are great locations for nuke plants. Those huge private estates help minimize the at-risk population.
OK, now you done pissed off this gay Democrat nuclear plant engineer. Ah, where to start....<br />Yes Josh (MY HERO!!), we drill more on external attacks now than on internal accidents, because probabalistic risk analysis has determined that they are more likely to occur. (Yes, there are jobs for math majors outside of insurance and baseball.) It really is more likely that some dingus will set up 200 yds from a plant with a shoulder rocket launcher, or load a bread truck full of fertilizer, than it is that an internal accident will occur. Why? Because there are a lot of dinguses out there.<br />&quot;..the Feds have relaxed the safety regulations for nuclear power plants operating beyond their design life&quot; - no idea where you&#039;re getting that. License extension from 40 yrs to 60 yrs is a reality, but we have hundreds of issues to address to justify it before it&#039;s granted. Fewer than 10 units (of 103) have reached 40 yrs so far, average age is ~30.<br />
I have a dozen or so friends who are flight attendants, and all of them get more radiation dose in a year than I have received total in my nuclear career (24 yrs). They just don&#039;t realize it. Americans get 620 mR per year of natural radiation from the earth and sun (or 6.2 mSv for you metric weirdos), more if you live in PA mine country or in Denver. Average airline flight crew annual dose is 219 mR. Nuclear plant workers are allowed 5000 mR per year, maybe 5% approach 500 mR. Most get &lt;10 mR. &lt;BR&gt;People are afraid of what they don&#039;t understand. I live 6.6 miles by road from a nuclear plant, probably 3 miles as the crow flies. I couldn&#039;t care less. Many of my neighbors apparently are unaware of its existence. And you know what - they need not be. I would be more concerned about what chemicals are in my processed meat meals (ugh!!) than that.
Unfortunately, it&#039;s never immediate unless there&#039;s a bomb involved. Even if you climbed into the core and back out, it would take several horrific hours.
STP can&#039;t &quot;go Chernobyl&quot; - totally different design.
Hot-and-cool cycles is a low-cycle process. This tube wear is a high-cycle process - from flow-induced vibration. We know that&#039;s what it is, we just don&#039;t know why. No tube is going to leak, it will be plugged long before it gets to that point.
The allowable crack length in an aluminum aircraft skin is about 3 feet. Because the mechanism is known and the growth rate is predictable. That is also why most metallurgists drink heavily before they fly.
You almost certainly mean Oconee Nuclear Station - Keowee-Toxaway is a hydroelectric project. Pretty up there, though. But you are right, the crappy drivers are the main threat, paint chips and leaded water somewhat less so.
Sorry. That was intended to be a lame Megyn Kelly joke, but apparently all I achieved was the &quot;lame&quot; part.
You are of course right about the transuranics.
<i>&quot;...nuclear power plants operating beyond their design life...&quot;</i>
(That&#039;s a phrase usually associated with Albania or Uz-becki-becki-becki-stan-stan.)
We should insist that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission members only travel by aircraft that are operating beyond their design life. If that&#039;s good enough for nuclear plants, it must be good enough for something as simple as an airplane.
Alternately, Chuck Norris dies a slow and painful death from radiation sickness.
It&#039;s win/win.
I think the Hamptons, Cos Cob, and Martha&#039;s Vineyard are great locations for nuke plants. Those huge private estates help minimize the at-risk population.
Prepare for an assault - right. They gonna put Sidewinder missles on top of the local cops&#039; patrol cars?
It&#039;s a fission product, essentially.