Opinion Talk

By Bob

April 25, 2006 07:13 AM | Link to this

It is possible, but I do not think it would happen. the main reason is that we have nuclear reactors perfected by now and all the glitches have been worked out

By Van

April 25, 2006 08:51 AM | Link to this

Since the design is totally different, the US reactors of today could not have the same type of accident that Chernobyl had.

Our worse power plant incident was the National Reactor Testing Station in Arco, Idaho - back in 1961. In comparison to Chernobyl it was not that large. Even with the tragety of three people dying, the difference in scale between the two plants places them in different classes.

The Three Mile Island incident, in 1979, by contrast resulted in no explosion and no lasting contamination. Some gas was released and 200,000 people were evacuated as a precaution, but were later allowed to return.

Both of these showed the wisdom of using containment buildings, if one had been used at Chernobyl, the result would have been totally different.

By candide

April 25, 2006 09:01 AM | Link to this

Is the Pope Catholic?

By NotMyProblem

April 25, 2006 09:39 AM | Link to this

Maybe responses should be limited to those who actually know what they’re talking about (candide).

By Donald J. Matthews

April 25, 2006 10:27 AM | Link to this

I am a retired nuclear power plant operator, I am convinced that a Chernoble type accident cannot Our nuclear plants are of a completely different design and are made to shut the reaction down if a loss of coolant accident should occur, Training for our operators is extensive and includes many different types of accidents that could occur. All of our operators are trained with state of ther art simulators on a continuing basis. As new information is evolved this is also included it the ongoing operator training. The 3 Mile Island event showed that our reactors are safe and that the public is protected from such as the Chernoble type accident.

By Hadden Knough

April 25, 2006 10:32 AM | Link to this

All I know is that living here on earth is inherently dangerous.

For example, cesspools in Huntington, NY came close to killing this past Sunday according to the headlines in this very paper.

Electricity can definitely kill you.

Water can drown you which has the same effect as killing you.

Automobiles kill (and it’s not just the SUV kind doing it).

Space shuttles kill.

Weather kills.

Falling trees kill.

Disease kills.

Chimpanzees are killing more everyday it seems.

People flying planes into buildings kill.

Progress kills.

You want to be a fraidy cat and hide from life forever because it might kill you? No, of course you don’t. So tell Greenpeace, Sierra Club, the Surgeon General, and the DNC to get off your front porch next time they come calling, and take life back for America!

Just don’t puff on your cigarettes around me. That second-hand smoke can kill you.

By Kelly

April 25, 2006 10:34 AM | Link to this

The safety of plant operation has improved greatly over the last two decades but there is still a major concern. Every U.S. plant has a cooling and storage faclility for spent fuel that holds much more than it was designed for. Until we figure out what to do with this highly radioactive byproduct, we shouldn’t build new nuke plants or expand the capacity of existing generators. If that problem is adequately addressed I’m all for an expansion in nuclear energy.

And it couldn’t hurt to keep researching and developing other alternatives to fossil fuels like wind, water and renewable fuels like corn. Anything to reduce the influence of less-than-friendly nations like those in the Middle East and Venezuela.

By test

April 26, 2006 09:36 AM | Link to this

Yes, it is possible to happen in the US. Reactors like any are built by human beings. Since human beings are not perfect, so creation must not be perfct.

By Van

April 26, 2006 09:55 AM | Link to this

Test,

The 4 Chernobyl reactors were built without a containment building to trap any radiation or radioactive gas from escaping into the atmosphere.

The control rods used in the reactors differ from the type used in the US plants.

Based just on these two items alone, a Chernobyl type disaster is very unlikely to happen here. Three Mile Island is a perfect example of a very bad accident that did not turn into a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl, all due to a containment building.

By Charley van Rotterdam

April 30, 2006 05:50 AM | Link to this

Murphy’s Law! If an accident can happen it will happen