Re: Design of Nuclear Power Plants

[bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Bob Flood)]

>The operators had data showing
>that they had lost adequate shutdown margin *before* the initiation of the
>test.  No matter what the design of your reactor, when you're handed that
>information, and you proceed with the test, it's not realistic to say the
>accident was caused by poor design.
>
>Standard disclaimers.
>Keith Welch
>welch@cebaf.gov
>

I believe Keith has scored a direct hit here. I doubt that there is any
credible basis for not judging the RMBK to be a flawed design, but... and
this is important... the known design flaws were not the sort that made safe
operation impossible. The plant could have been operated without causing the
accident. The actions of the operating staff caused the accident, albeit
taking advantage of the design flaws.

This falls into the same category as some of the criticism of automobile
design, where some have claimed that a particular car is "unsafe at any
speed." To paraphrase a monthly auto enthusiast magazine, "there is no car
legally available in the United States that is so inherently unsafe that it
cannot be driven safely; similarly, the is no car legally available in the
United States that is so inherently safe that it can be driven foolishly."
This same concept applies to nuclear plant operation. Chernobyl did not have
to be operated with such creative stupidity.
Bob Flood
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone.
(415) 926-3793
bflood@slac.stanford.edu