CLOSER TO HOMEQuake response showcases Japan’s resilient spiritJapan disaster another worry for global economyJapanese plant poses little threat to U.S. – for now”Large amounts of radioactive material” spewing into airJapanese ties tug at local residents as crisis deepensTVA says reactors designed to handle big earthquakesRelatives seek news of loved ones in JapanAFTERMATH IN JAPANJapanese nuclear crisis raises many questions, no easy answersObama: U.S. will stand by longtime ally JapanTide of 1,000 bodies overwhelms quake-hit JapanU.S. moves ships out of path of Japan radiationStricken Japan nuclear plant rocked by 2nd blast
Nuclear experts say America needs to rethink at least two things: Are we planning for big enough earthquakes and natural disasters, and should we be contemplating using hotter and more dangerous fuels blended down from old nuclear warheads in nuclear power production.
“Reactors are basically designed to withstand an earthquake. They’re also designed to withstand tsunamis [or tornadoes or plane crashes], but they’re not really designed to handle both occurring on the same day,” said Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer and former worker at TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and now director of the nuclear safety program at the Union for Concerned Scientists. The Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit group that has no pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear position.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan now has four reactors in various stages of partial meltdown after a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami Friday.
The plant was designed for a stronger quake than its sister plant here – Browns Ferry near Athens, Ala. Both are the same design, a General Electric Mark 1 boiling-water reactor.