Comment Re:Fukushima plant was hit by an enormous disaster (Score 1) 1148
I'd beg to differ by saying it was in a way both human error and faulty design. Essentially the reactor design requires power to keep cool even after shutdown. So far so good. The backup power source (in addition to batteries) was however limited to only two diesel generators, which were unoperational (due to flooding, most likely). This poor backup power redundancy has been noted internationally by several atomic energy safety organizations, and their Japanese counterparts / plant operators were warned years ago. In addition to reactor core cooling power would have presumably been needed also for hydrogen-oxygen recombiners to avoid the hydrogen explosions.
So from how I see it, the current situation is caused by insufficient contingency planning, probably in order to achieve some cost savings. It would have been rather reasonable to make sure that there is backup power available even in the case that some generators get swamped. All in all the wikipedia page (and assurances) about BWR safety features seem to be in stark contrast with the reality at Fukushima.
So from how I see it, the current situation is caused by insufficient contingency planning, probably in order to achieve some cost savings. It would have been rather reasonable to make sure that there is backup power available even in the case that some generators get swamped. All in all the wikipedia page (and assurances) about BWR safety features seem to be in stark contrast with the reality at Fukushima.