Word: reactors
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China syndrome, in which the reactor core melts and burns its way into the earth, releasing potentially catastrophic radiation, had been a possibility at T.M.I...
...commission found that at least 30 tons of fuel in the upper portion of the reactor core, which had lost the protection of cooling water, had reached the dangerously high temperature of 4,000° F or more. A reactor would hit the meltdown point at about 5,200° F-a level that ''may have'' been reached by a small but still undetermined portion of the fuel...
...indirect accusation that such training may be even more deficient elsewhere in the industry. The T.M.I, operators, the report notes, scored higher than the national average in the NRC licensing and operating examinations. Nonetheless, in these tests, ''emphasis was not given to fundamental understanding of the reactor and little time was devoted to instruction in the biological hazards of radiation. The content was left to the instructors, who had no greater formal education qualifications than those of their students.'' In fact, there is no minimum educational requirement for control room operators...
...reason is that the annual growth of demand for electricity has fallen to around 3%, from the steady 7% through the 1950s and '60s. Meanwhile, the time required to bring a reactor ''on line'' has stretched out to a dozen years after the start of construction. Reasons for the delays: public opposition, cumbersome regulatory and licensing procedures, and the fact that reactor designs have not been standardized; each plant is custom-built, and the NRC demands many design changes while it is being erected...
...These kids are probably right, just like they were right about Vietnam. But it will take us ten years to realize it," Lee Virzi, an employee of a Wall St. brokerage house, said as he watched demonstrators dressed as neutron bombs and a core reactor vessel dance on the corner of Broad...