Sabotage? Emergency Declared, Crane Fire During Nuclear Refueling at Robinson Nuclear Plant

[diagreen]

KILL NUKE POWER.

[spoony2112]

3 reactors in a month across the U.S.....

[socioeconomicsisshit]

If these were criminal acts what does it say for nuclear security?

[theicediamond7]

in the age of spark and smoke detectors this is impossible

[Pistol76]

There is also a very detailed and closely monitored procedure for installing and torquing the reactor head into place. The only possible explanation for not doing it properly is total incompetence! In order to sabotage this operation you would need the cooperation of around ten men. The reactor and all of the associated piping is pressure checked for leaks prior to bringing the reactor online, the reactor should have still been in cold shutdown when the leak was discovered.

[Pistol76]

The polar cranes are only used during refueling shutdowns, and they are prone to maintenance problems because of that. I can tell you from experience though, operating one of them is a real trip, try moving an object on a string in a straight line while going in a circle sometime and you will see what I mean. But there is a very detailed procedure for moving the fuel, and the entire operation is carefully monitored step by step.

[Pistol76]

I have both operated the polar crane, and torqued the bolts on the reactor head using hydraulic tensioners. Sabotage is possible at a nuclear plant and is in fact one of the greatest dangers to plant safety. Getting away with sabotage is another story, that would be hard. A serial saboteur is unlikely because entrance into the reactor building is secure, everyone is logged in and out. If you got away with it once, you would certainly get caught the second time just by checking the logs.

[MsMilkytheclown]

@Pistol76 Thanks Pistol. So, just out of curiosity... what would have happened if they followed TEPCO's official response to "do nothing at all"? I heard the guy who ran the plant was a "hero" to go against TEPCO top guys...?

I'm chillin' to music similar...

/watch?v=eM213aMKTHg&ob=av2e

[Pistol76]

@MsMilkytheclown In my opinion all of Northern Japan should have been evacuated anyway, but if these guys had not done what they did, and probably gave their lives in so doing, many many people would have died in a relatively short period of time. Most people do not realize the scope of this disaster, even those that know something about nuclear power. The total amount of radioactive contamination and poisonous heavy metals stored on this site just boggles my mind!

[Pistol76]

@Pistol76 It is just astounding that any sane person would authorize putting six nuclear reactors and seven spent fuel pools all in one location, especially if that location was in an area that was prone to have large earthquakes!

[jennyburger07]

@potrblog I think you've hit the nail on the head. This is almost a clear case of sabotage...and you, obviously knowing more than I about nuclear engineering...I'd definitely have to concur! After all, what would happen if at airports began making "simple" mistakes from the control-tower? We'd have planes falling from the sky! But, the silent killer is the perfect murder weapon!

[blazin20aday]

Surprised at milkys question

[MsMilkytheclown]

@blazin20aday Really? I'm no Nuke person, I just call it like I see/hear it... I specialize in observing... not technical. I call BS when I see it, and such... I have an actual BScience degree, multi science... working knowledge of most all fields, engineering, science, biology, chemistry, marketing, business and such... but not specialized in any... so I kinda know a lot of the workings, but I'm no expert...I like to call experts for their working knowledge :)

[blazin20aday]

@MsMilkytheclown :o

[MsMilkytheclown]

What is Nuclear Coolant... I'm confused about that term... Many say water, but then when Fukushima happened, they said they were going to have to "fly in" nuclear coolant... thus they used the seawater... Answer?, Please?

Great REPORT! Added to my fav's...

[jennyburger07]

@MsMilkytheclown Good question, MsMilky!

[Pistol76]

@MsMilkytheclown Water is the coolant for most commercial and military reactors. But it is not just any water, the purity and chemistry of the water is precisely maintained. The reason reactor grade water would have had to be flown in is because there was no electricity on site to run the pumps, which is the absolute worst case scenario for any nuclear plant. They were forced then to use fire trucks or fuel operated pumps in order to pump in the most available source of water, the ocean.

[Pistol76]

@MsMilkytheclown Had the operators not pumped in the seawater, then the all of the reactors and the spent fuel pools would have caught on fire and the amount of radiation released would have been massive, I was very surprised that this did not happen anyway. But wait, we are still early into this crisis, it is no where close to being over yet. Those operators should be awarded medals for heroism! We should not blame the operators for poor engineering and incompetent deceitful management.

[MsMilkytheclown]

@Pistol76 /watch?v=BuFMacUqKsU

Ayreon - E=MC2

[Pistol76]

@MsMilkytheclown :-)