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RE: the Times, the Post, and "reality"
Stewart Farber wrote:
Radsafe:
The "news" article
posted to Radsafe by Norman Cohen earlier today about possible radiation related
terrorism contained a lot of speculation but only a few facts. Among the
facts was the following excerpt. It's obvious this article was published by the
Washington Times and not the Washington Post which would never admit to the
following reality about the TMI accident.
Stewart Farber
Consulting
Public Health Scientist
email: SAFarberMSPH@cs.com
=====http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020513-8388828.htm
=========================================================
U.S. weighs July 4 threat
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON
TIMES
The TMI facility was the site of a
serious nuclear accident in 1979. A
malfunction in a water system used for
steam generators caused a meltdown
within a reactor core, setting off the
release of radioactive gas. However,
despite a national frenzy of fear and
speculation, there were no injuries due
to radiation exposure.
========================================================
Jim Dukelow
responds:
Well, the steam
generators in the TMI plants transfer heat from the primary to the secondary
cooling system, generating steam on the secondary side, which
then goes to the steam turbines to power the generators that produce the
electricity.
Perhaps the reason the
Washington Post would never say what the Times did is that the Times was
wrong and the Post has higher
standards.
The fault in the TMI
accident was in a pressurizer relief valve that failed to reclose when it
should have. The plant's steam generators were not directly
involved.
The Times' confusion
is perhaps understandable, since the pressurizer contains heating elements,
which are used to augment the steam bubble at the top of the pressurizer when
the pressure in the primary system drops below its set
point.
On the other hand, it is
pretty clear the Times' writer didn't know what he was writing about, which is
hardly good journalism.
Best
regards.
Jim
Dukelow
Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory
Richland,
WA
These comments are mine and
have not been reviewed and/or approved by my management or by the U.S.
Department of Energy.