The Idiocy and Hubris of Engineers: Will GE Get Whacked for the Catastrophic Failure of its Nuk Plan

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Idiocy-and-Hubris-of-E-by-Dave-Lindorff-110314-460.html

GE, the company that boasts that it "brings good things to life," was the designer of the nuclear plants that are blowing up like hot popcorn kernels at the Fukushima Daiichi generating plant north of Tokyo that was hit by the double-whammy of an 8.9 earthquake and a hugh tsunami.

The company may escape tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in liability from this continuing disaster, which could still result in a catastrophic total meltdown of one or more of the reactors (as of this writing three of the reactors are reported to have suffered partial meltdowns, and all could potentially become more serious total meltdowns with a rupture of the reactor container), thanks to Japanese law, which makes the operator--in this case Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) liable. But if it were found that it was design flaws by GE that caused the problem, presumably TEPCO or the Japanese government could pursue GE for damages.

In fact, the design of these facilities--a design which, it should be noted, was also used in 23 nuclear plants operating in the US in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont--appear to have included serious flaws, from a safety perspective.

The drawings of the plants in question, called Mark I systems, provide no way for venting hydrogen gas from the containment buildings, despite the fact that one of the first things that happens in the event of a cooling failure is the massive production of hydrogen gas by the exposed fuel rods in the core. This is why two of the nuclear generator buildings at Fukushima Daiichi have exploded with tremendous force blasting off the roof and walls of the structures, and damaging control equipment needed to control the reactors.

More at the link --

[defendandprotect]

1. We'd better all start learning something about nuclear plants and GE -- !!

[leveymg]

2. I'd serve on that jury.

It's my civic responsibility.

[villager]

3. Worked a temp job in my youth with a former GE Exec...

..who'd quit and was starting over, work-wise. He said he could no longer work there in good consciousness, and that most of the paperwork submitted on their plants was lies....

Every time one of their plants subsequently fails, I remember that conversation....

[Turbineguy]

4. The plant is 40 years old.

Maybe these plants should be designed by MBA's or poly sci majors.

[Tansy_Gold]

5. I was kinda thinkin' the same thing

or maybe by a sociology major like me? Uh, I don't think so.

I think it's sad that someone, anyone, is blaming engineers, who are among the most reality-based folks around.

"GE" is a corporation; it didn't design anything. Human beings who worked for GE did. And I don't think any of us know, at this point, what the circumstances were under which those plants were designed and built -- the state of technology at the time, etc.

It rather irritates me that people are oh so ready to condemn people without knowing hardly any of the facts.



Tansy Gold, not an engineer even though she can spell it.

[Kolesar]

7. Ohio enviros held up the completion of Perry Nuke to have more safety systems installed

Designers knew how to do Failure Mode and Effects on hazardous installations forty years ago. I don't know how they missed the hydrogen vent problem.

I don't know why Daichii was not idled and refitted years ago.

[TheWraith]

8. Refitted, hell, just replace the thing.

The reason these problems aren't happening at other plants in Japan is because they're modern and well built. And the newest ones, like the AP-1000s that Westinghouse is building for China, are nearly fault-proof: the coolant flow is impossible to stop because it's all gravity driven, as are the safety systems. But replacing an operating reactor costs money.

[Kolesar]

9. good post...eom

[Old and In the Way]

6. I don't see this as a reactor design failure....

just a failure of the back-up power systems. Had those generators been available to kick-in when after the earthquake and resultant tsunami, there'd have been no nuclear disaster. Was GE responsible for that portion of the design? Don't know, just asking.