Screen capture from video of an explosion at the Fukushima Daichi plant in Japan (Reuters)
In the New York Times today, Tom Zeller reports on warnings issued repeatedly as far back as 1972 on safety issues involving the GE-designed reactors at Fukushima:
If the cooling systems ever failed at a Mark 1 nuclear reactor, the primary containment vessel surrounding the reactor would probably burst as the fuel rods inside overheated. Dangerous radiation would spew into the environment. Now, with one Mark 1 containment vessel damaged at the embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and other vessels there under severe strain, the weaknesses of the design — developed in the 1960s by General Electric — could be contributing to the unfolding catastrophe.
And, related: Norimitshu Onishi in the New York Times reports on Japan's dependence on seawalls as a protective barrier against tsunamis.
Their weaknesses were most evident in the crisis at the Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants, both located along the coast close to the earthquake zone. The tsunami that followed the quake washed over walls that were supposed to protect the plants, disabling the diesel generators crucial to maintaining power for the reactors' cooling systems during shutdown.
(thanks, John Schwartz)
