Nothing to be advised about. 0bama wasn’t even on the radar when these plants were built or designed.
People are going to want to get all up into not only GE, but all the design specifications. Germany has already shut down reactors of this age for ‘inspections and evaluations.’
So the question remains for over-reacting folks...what level do you regulate too? What risk level do you accept?
It is a double edged sword right now. Forty years ago this natural disaster event in Japan would have likely resulted in the loss of life far beyond what they are today. Building designs etc. have vastly improved since then and that makes this that much more heartbreaking.
What had not been upgraded to keep up with modern expectations? Again, the risk managers would have only been considering the 100 year event horizon, even though more lives would be saved through modern building design. The risk levels changed and actually increased from a 1 in 100 years to a 40 in 100 years and more lives are in play. Japan had just authorized a 12 year extension on these designs. They were taking on over a 52% risk level or higher.
But...if the ‘event’ occurs...it is an act of God. At what point though is it no longer an act of God? GE wasn’t and isn’t responsible for the Japanese assumed risk.
Many of these plants were built knowing there were disposal issues too. Scientists and designers at the time figured we would have resolved that issue by now. We have not.
Many plants around the world reprocess or send their fuel for reprocessing keeping the cooling ponds at lower spent fuel storage levels lower. The United States banned reprocessing. Many of our spent fuel pools are near or are at capacity.
At what risk?