Going Nuclear

The US is in a peculiar situation when it comes to nuclear power reactors. Largely because of the response to the Three Mile Island accident (which harmed no-one and released only trivial amounts of radiation) there have been no new reactors built in decades. There have been upgrades - some intended to prevent what happened at Three Mile Island - and of course maintenance and substantial refurbishments, but no new plants. Newer, inherently safer plants.

Keep in mind that the plants causing the problems in Japan are roughly of the same vintage as Three Mile Island, and due to be decommissioned in a few years because of their age. Also, they are owned and managed by a company with a history of both accidents and cover-ups. Even with all that, if the workers could have brought electricity to the plants quickly enough the cores would have been kept cool.

Digression: As an engineer I don't understand why they didn't just airlift some large generators and fuel to the plants, hooking them up through the battery rooms, since we know the circuits and pumps they powered were still working until the batteries ran down.)

There are modern designs which can shut down and keep the cores cool through convection circulation even if the power is knocked out with the reactor in full operation. We need to convince those fearful of nuclear power that building these and shutting down the older designs is far safer than continuing with the current situation.

Yes, there will always be dangers associated with fission power. Half of them are engineering problems (and, as hinted above, most have already been solved) while the rest are political. (Of *course* the waste is piling up! "They" won't let us reprocess it or build proper disposal facilities!)

Cat's Eeyow!

My oldest current cat, Motley, likes to lay behind my desk chair while I'm working on the computer. I have long had the habit of saying 'Watch out.' before moving the chair. Lately, though, Motley has shown increasing reluctance to move, often laying right beside the path the chair takes, sometimes even leaving her tail in the path. I usually look just in case, but this morning said 'Watch out.' and pushed back without looking. There was a mild protest. I looked around, and saw Motley standing nearby, giving me an irate look. Apparently, I pulled some hairs in her tail. She hasn't laid back down there since.