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To: justa-hairyape
Don't mean to be rude, but you and others on this thread have absolutely no concept of reactor design and containment in the US.

San Onofre has two Pressurized Water Reactors--a completely different design than Fukushima. They are surrounded and contained by concrete domes...the cross section of the concrete looks similar to this:



However the thinnest sections at S.O. are at least two feet thicker than the pic. Fukushima has no such containment.

We've already had a large meltdown incident in the US--Three Mile Island. TMI's core suffered a 95% meltdown, and the pressurized water reactor design (similar to San Onofre) completely contained the core within the reactor vessel itself--there was never any possibility of the release of fission products outside the reactor plant. After decades of study, there is absolutely no link from the TMI incident to any increased radiation exposure or health related issues to the public.

San Onofre could suffer a 100% meltdown, and the results would be the same. Of course, the likelihood a meltdown at San Onofre is almost ZERO. BTW, I live about 40 miles from S.O. as the crow flies, and I have absolutely no fear of it.

As far as the Fukushima incident, from the get-go we've been deluged with worst case scenario hype, and NONE of these predictions has come to pass. I'm not trying to minimize what has happened--it is very serious--but the sky will not fall and eventually this problem will be controlled.

In the mean time, it's just a shame that there is so much incredibly ignorant fear mongering going on. Ignorance and fear go hand in hand...people fear what they can't or won't comprehend and understand. Sometimes it's hard to believe this is Free Republic....
24 posted on 01/08/2012 1:48:25 PM PST by rottndog (Be Prepared for what's coming AFTER America....)
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To: rottndog

They said that Fukushima could not explode. It did. They said that Fukushima could not melt out of the RPV. It did. They said it could not escape the CV, it has. That is three strikes and they are out. Now you claim that San Onofre could not cause any problems. Yeah sure. Do you have any idea the size of the Tsunami that could hit that plant with just minutes of warning ? You ever been to Catalina Island or cruised by San Clemente Island ? Have you seen a map of the seafloor off the So Cal coast ? Do you know what an 8.0 quake here could do to that concrete ?


25 posted on 01/08/2012 4:48:04 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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