Nuke plants and tank farms

[RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

Why has there been a sudden interest in nuclear plants as potential terrorist targets, and no interest in oil tank farms?  Are we protecting tank farms?  They are much better targets, for several reasons: (1) an oil storage tank has a much larger diameter than a containment and is cylindrical, not dome shaped, (2) tank farms contains a sizable number of tanks, and thus present a much more extensive target, (3) storage tanks are considerably less sturdy than containment buildings, (4) tanks generally have floating roofs -- they are not completely rigid structures, (5) refined product has a high vapor pressure, and concentrations of vapor can explode as well as burn, (6) tank farms are not surrounded by an exclusion zones.  We have had spectacular and devastating explosions and fires in tank farms in the last 60 years in the U.S.


Essentially, if the purpose of the attack is be fairly certain of hitting your target, cause massive devastation, cripple the infrastructure, kill a lot of people and scare a lot more, an oil tank farm at any port city or pipeline terminus in the U. S. is a lot more vulnerable than a nuclear power plant.  Are our tank farms being adequately protected and their air space monitored?  Is the Department of Energy (!) doing any calculations on the risks posed to tank farms, or are they totally caught up with nuke plants?  


A large refinery complex is a potential target as well -- not only from the flammability and explosion risk, but from the release of hazardous substances into the air if a refinery tower is smashed.  The hazards posed to emergency response personnel are considerable also.

  

I may be too much of a cynic, but I sense that this focus on nuclear power plants (and shipments, of all things!) to the exclusion of consideration of other elements of the energy infrastructure is because the anti-nukes have seized yet another opportunity to blast away at nuclear power, not because they care at all about safety. 


Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

ruthweiner@aol.com