As wingywoof said, they put the reactors in giant concrete bunkers just in case something goes wrong, so that when something does go wrong ... uh ... everyone can be hit by flying masonry!
I'm finding it rather interesting they're apparently using a rather small containment building, judging from what I've seen in the pictures.
We've got a reactor of similar age (built 1971-1974, gone critical 1978) that uses a massive cupola instead, and that's the usual design around here. Then again, we normally don't suffer from earthquakes, although these cupolas are supposed to be holding off a fighter jet (which, apparently, they do not).
Anyhow. The most important news weekly here is already ushering in "the end of the atomic age" on its title, so I foresee interesting weeks ahead, at least from the political point of view.
(on second thought, I've just found out that the subtle difference between boiling water reactors and pressure water reactors seems to play a role in the design - most BWRs we have over here also have another block with a PWR, so the cupola design often is for the latter.)
Oh yes. That was the Hamm-Uentrop accident, where one of the pebbles got stuck. :P
(Learned that from my physics teacher who, oddly enough, was a member of the Green party and staunchly anti-nuclear, yet organised a tour of the local plant for us in 10th form.)
The same way they are probably. Someone today asked me why it was overheating; aren't there supposed to be back-up systems? I had heard they had 13 diesel generators that were ALL knocked offline after the earthquake. They were trying to bring in portable generators, but time was short so they vented gas instead. Just goes to show you that you can't plan for everything.
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We've got a reactor of similar age (built 1971-1974, gone critical 1978) that uses a massive cupola instead, and that's the usual design around here. Then again, we normally don't suffer from earthquakes, although these cupolas are supposed to be holding off a fighter jet (which, apparently, they do not).
Anyhow. The most important news weekly here is already ushering in "the end of the atomic age" on its title, so I foresee interesting weeks ahead, at least from the political point of view.
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(Learned that from my physics teacher who, oddly enough, was a member of the Green party and staunchly anti-nuclear, yet organised a tour of the local plant for us in 10th form.)
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