One last comment on Lochbaum...

[Joel L Lazewatsky <joel.lazewatsky@bms.com>]

From:

>> by Lochbaum:

>>

------------------------------------------------------------------------



>>

>> Aging Nuclear Plants and License Renewal - Updated 09/13/2001



[etc.etc]



>> gains. For example, consider a component that fails every time

it is tested.

>> Going from quarterly to annual tests reduces the number of

failures per year

>> from four to one. On paper, safety is greatly improved. But in

the plant,

>> safety is unchanged. Every nuclear plant in the United States

is in Region B!

>



Come on, now. Don't be absurd.



This model assumes that failed components are simply replaced,

with no analysis of the failure.  No competant engineer would

permit this situation to continue.  Do you have any data with

examples of such a series of unanalyzed falures?



Even if this were to happen, the problem would not be the

components or the plant and certainly not with nuclear power in

general.  The problem would be the procedures by which the plant

is maintained or with the managers running it.  The proper thing

to do then is to correct the procedure, analyze the failure and

correct the problem.  And, if necessary, replace the managers.



Once again, why is this any different for nuclear power than it

is for any other industrial facility that uses potentially

hazardous processes, including wind power?  Remember that

engineering failures occur in every plant and process.  Windmill

blades can  break off during operation (due to fatigue) sending a

chunk of  metal careening over the countryside.  What agency

regulates them, mandating inspections and shutdowns?



Are you suggesting that the airline industry is inherently unsafe

because defects in  the vertical stablizer of an A300 recently

resulted in hundreds of deaths of passengers and people on the

ground?  Shall we permenently ground all aircraft and shut down

the industry?  By your logic that is the only possible

conclusion.  Same with automobiles.  Close the roads, ban the

cars.  Unplug them, maybe?



Remember that there have been orders of magnitude  more deaths

due to airline accidents than there have been due to nuclear

power plant operations world wide.  I will not even attempt to

compare  nuclear power safety with highway safety.  Let's get

real, here.



I'm sorry to bring this up again, but I get upset every time I

read this sort of nonesense masquarading as science.



Joel Lazewatsky, Ph.D.

Principal Research Scientist

Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging



(The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and do not

necessarily reflect those of my employer)







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