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 |  Day to day stuff....a memoir without order. |
| July 25 Prompt - Fukujima, Japan --- Mar 12, 2011 March 12th was my maternal grandfather's birthday. He passed away in 1960 on December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. Now, because of his birthday, he has something else in common with the Japanese, a shared date with an horrific earthquake and resulting tsunami. The destruction, pain, and loss to the Japanese people on that day and days following is something I can hardly fathom. I can only try to empathize. For those old enough, it had to bring back horrible memories of World War II and the bombs. Unfortunately, we, the United States, may have had a hand in this terrible disaster as well. I have a personal interest in electric utility companies and have read a lot about shut downs, coolant leaks, pressure valve irregularites, and numerous other problems that routinely occur in our own 104 nuclear reactors owned by power companies. General Electric designed five of the six Fukujima reactors, Mark 1's, developed in the 60's and installed in Japan in the 70's. Problems with the containment vessels is the biggest concern, It led to three G.E. employees quitting in protest in 1975 over their safety issue. Currently, 23, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/japan-quake-nuclear-ge-idUSN1227232120... of our 104 have that same design. All 23 are more than forty years old and are spread throughout the United States. These reactors use a boiling water system that continues to produce heat even after fission has ceased. They must be kept cool by water pumps, water pumps that run on electric...a real catch-22. Even as I write this blog, many of these 23 plants have applications for licensing renewal...original licensing was for forty years...many have already been renewed. G.E. is the world's biggest nuclear equipment supplier and insists their reactors are safe and meet all regulatory requirements. But then, we have not had a 9.0 magnitude earthquake or a 30-foot tsunami.... until next time...c |
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