U.S. should have managed better in situation like Fukushima nuclear crises

U.S could have better managed in a situation like Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan

Years will pass before we fully understand what happened at Fukushima nuclear power plants. Broad lessons can be learned based on information available

Human error is a far greater threat than technology

Unforeseen natural disaster happen, and catastrophic result that, however  cannot be used as an excuse. Indeed, an initial review of information indicates that human error was the real culprit. The actual reactors at Fukushima worked. Nuclear reactions stopped in each reactor upon the earth quake strike, and back up power took over when primary power was lost. The problem really began as systems broke down when multiple tsunami waves over come the safety design of site.

Unfortunately , many problems were like preventable. According to the international atomic energy agency, the plants tsunami barriers were identified as in sufficient but Japanese regulators had never fully approved modifications to fix problems. Given this, the plants back up power sources should have been housed on flood proof locations. In fact all were vulnerable to flooding which  left 11& 12 generators un workable.

Additional design problems also emerged. It remain un clear exactly how Japanese officials addressed some well known reactors steam and pressure venting issues. What is known is that the reactors had venting problems. While hydrogen containing steam was released from reactors primary containment, valve malfunctions allowed it to mitigate back into the reactor building. This accumulations of hydrogen caused the explosions, which then apparently led to additional severe challenges, such as those associated with spent fuel pools.

An incoherent command structure, where real time decision making authority was spread among  multiple individuals , made  managing these conditions even  more difficult. Not having a single person on the ground and in charge diminished the influence of those with most relevant  experience. Instead some critical decisions, such as when to vent steam from reactors or when to use seawater to cool them, seems to be pushed up to authorities with more political than technical experience.

Lesson 3 : the American safety regulation system  for existing plants works.

The  nuclear regulatory commission sets the safety standard and strictly enforces them with on -site inspectors and ongoing over sight. The institute for nuclear operators, a private safety organization, add another layer of safety by providing training, best practices, and plant -specific safety audits. Finally each plant operator is responsible for maintaining safe plant operations.

The U.S. system allows regulators and plant personnel to effectively identify and mitigate safety deficiencies while maintaining efficient operations. That why America’s  nuclear power plants not only enjoy exempla nary safety records but produce some of the most affordable electricity.

Lesson three :  United  States must fix its system for nuclear waste disposal

U.S.lack of   a nuclear waste disposal policy is causing U.S. power plants to collect more spent fuel in pools than they were ever engineered  to hold. While safe, should a plant over face an emergency  like that in Japan where pool integrity was threatened, the additional spent fuel could increase the safety risk. It is unnecessary , federally imposed risk that could be mitigated by opening Yucca Mountain.

Lesson four ; Radiation remains  a great unknown

We need to learn more about radiation, while this lack of understanding makes  nuclear scary to most people under normal circumstances it can cause panic during an accident. The panic affects the public and policy makers. The public can become fearful and behave irrationally, such as buying iodine pill in United States to protect against an accident in Japan. Policy makers can act irrationally as well as when German officials called to shut down all of their nuclear reactors. The media exacerbates the problem by writing stories that play on public fear instead of educating people about events.

Spewing so much radiation into ground, atmosphere, and water is not good, but we need to understand how bad actually it is. This will allow us to reopen to future accidents more effectively and place the risk of future nuclear power into more realistic context. Additionally the IAEA has concluded that no lasting human impact will result from radiation released from Fukushima.

Lesson five : an accident has not stopped the expansion of nuclear power.

This perhaps the most telling lesson  learned from Fukushima. While few reactions stated  that they would either  not pursue  new reactors or shut down their existing ones, the fact is that support for nuclear was already warming in those places. The consensus among most was that a commercial nuclear accident any where threatened progress every where.

Giving the severity the accident at Fukushima- and that is happened in Japan, a nation widely held as a leader in commercial  nuclear safety- few could have predicted that the nuclear renaissance would largely  stay on track in its wake. Yet that’s exactly what happening. Progress in new plants in Georgia, South Carolina, and reactor designs continue to pursue NRC licensing for their concept. 

In the end, we will undoubtedly learn-many lessons from Fukushima . But it is important to understand that  Fukushima was not America’s accident. The United States had it at Three Mile Island and learned immensely from it. In deed the way our industry is organized in direct result of those lessons. Fukushima was Japan’s accident but we both can learn from it.