On this 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster - Russian scientists warn of 'Iranian Chernobyl'

[bananas]

NASA engineers warned the managers to delay the launch, the managers didn't listen.
Same thing at Bhopal: engineers warned of the condition of the plant, the managers didn't care.
Here we go again...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8262853/Russia-warns-of-Iranian-Chernobyl.html

Stuxnet virus attack: Russia warns of ‘Iranian Chernobyl'

Russian nuclear officials have warned of another Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster at Iran's controversial Bushehr reactor because of the damage caused by the Stuxnet virus, according to the latest Western intelligence reports.

By Con Coughlin 5:23PM GMT 16 Jan 2011

<snip>

However, Russian scientists working at the plant have become so concerned by Iran's apparent disregard for nuclear safety issues that they have lobbied the Kremlin directly to postpone activation until at least the end of the year, so that a proper assessment can be made of the damage caused to its computer operations by Stuxnet.

The Iranian government is bitterly opposed to any further delay, which it would regard as another blow to national pride on a project that is more than a decade behind schedule. While Western intelligence officials believe Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, Iran insists the project's goals are peaceful.

The Russian scientists' report to the Kremlin, a copy of which has been seen by The Daily Telegraph, concludes that, despite "performing simple, basic tests" on the Bushehr reactor, the Russian team "cannot guarantee safe activation of the reactor".

It also accuses the Iranian management team, which is under intense political pressure to stick to the deadline, of "not exhibiting the professional and moral responsibility" that is normally required. They accuse the Iranians of having "disregard for human life" and warn that Russia could find itself blamed for "another Chernobyl" if it allows Bushehr to go ahead.

<snip>

This is what happened with Challenger and Bhopal - the engineers warned about it, management ignored their warnings.

Two things that should be emphasized:
1) This warning is coming from the Russian scientists who are working on-site.
2) These are serious management problems which go way beyond Stuxnet.

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[leveymg]

1. The Stuxnet problem was easilly solved by swapping out the logic cards on the affected controllers.

Takes less than 5 minutes to replace the circuit boards in each Siemens Programmable Logic Control Unit. See, below. Someone is making way too much of this. As for other safety issues, all nuclear plants are inherently dangerous, but this reactor is not a Chernobyl-type graphite air-cooled design.

[bananas]

2. This is whistle-blowing.

Russian engineers appealing to the Kremlin to intervene is like US engineers trying to get the White House or Congress to intervene.

[leveymg]

3. Uh huh.