The safety of nuclear power plants has always been a topic of debate. The disasters of Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and most recently Fukushima have made us question the safety of nuclear power plants. Granted, Fukushima was a result of an act of nature. However, living in California and having two nuclear power plants right along the pacific coast, with the potential of a large earthquake, doesn’t make me feel safe. Also, since I live in the Sierra foothills right above Sacramento, I’m glad that they shut down Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant in 1989. As a mater of fact that’s one of the events that inspired me to write my environmental thriller novel, “Green Power”.

I forgot to mention that the San Onofre Nuclear Power near San Diego had a tiny radioactive leak. One report stated that there was almost a meltdown. Anyway the plant has been shut down for over a year. Dejavu: Could this end up like what happened with Rancho Seco?

As I mentioned, Rancho Seco Neclear Power Plant problems, motivated me to write my fictional novel – “Green Power”. Below is the Prologue to this environmental thriller novel.
Note: This is a fictional account of a near meltdown at Rancho Seco that actually occurred on the 10th anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident.
Does this make you worry about the safety of these kinds of nuclear power plants?

Prologue
March 28, 1989
Flashing red lights on the control panels and the annoying intermittent deafening blast of the buzzing alarms startled the technicians in Rancho Seco’s control room. Trained eyes zeroed in on the numerous gauges and banks of indicator lights. A supervisor burst out of his glassed-in office and yelled, “OK people! What do we have?”
Confusion broke loose as numerous responses overwhelmed the bewildered supervisor. He raised both arms up with palms out and shouted, “One at a time! Sam, you go first.”
A short, slim balding man in glasses yelled back, “John, we’ve got a big problem! If these readings are correct, the main feed water pump for the reactor coolant system has shut down.” Before he could continue, the room vibrated forcibly knocking coffee cups to the floor. More red lights on the many indicator panels started flashing.
“I’ve got an overload on turbine one! We’ve got automatic turbine shutdown taking place,” a technician reported.
The significance of this event triggered John’s analytical mind as he asked one of the female technicians standing in front of a wall of gauges, “Cindy, what’s the primary system pressure looking like?”
“ It’s rising, but the indicator light for the pilot-operated relief valve is green.” She replied. “It should be correcting itself, but I am still getting a reading for rising pressure.”
He turned to yet another technician and asked, “How’s the core temperature holding?”
“It’s approaching critical,” he answered.
Another voice interrupted. “I’ve got high radioactive reading for vented gases!”
John had enough information to know that a meltdown was imminent, but he was puzzled by why the automatic SCRAM (Safety Control Rod Axe Man) had not initiated the shutting down of the nuclear reactor. Therefore, he gave the order, “That’s it, let’s shut her down!”
With that order, technicians immediately went into an automatic mode themselves. This wasn’t the first time they had gone through this scenario. Each knew their role as they toggled switches into position. A manual SCRAM had to be initiated so that the control rods could be lowered into position starting the shut-down of the nuclear fission process.
Rancho Seco was once again off-line.

Just today I saw a MSN news flash about another nuclear waste problem. “Washington's Hanford nuclear tanks leaking waste, again”.
Here’s the link: http://news.ca.msn.com/world/washington ... aste-again.
I’m new to this forum, so maybe you guys have already discussed this, but if not, I’d like to hear how some of you feel about nuclear power plants and how they handle waste.

bionov wrote:Just today I saw a MSN news flash about another nuclear waste problem. “Washington's Hanford nuclear tanks leaking waste, again”.
Here’s the link: http://news.ca.msn.com/world/washington ... aste-again.
I’m new to this forum, so maybe you guys have already discussed this, but if not, I’d like to hear how some of you feel about nuclear power plants and how they handle waste.

E]Well howdy there, bionov. OK. How do I feel about nuclear plants? I don't like them. For obvious reasons...

As for how they handle waste. I don't trust them. After all, the companies have a primary responsibility to their shareholders, not the general population. I think it shows in the aftermath of the disasters.

Hmm... I think that nuclear power plant and safe don't really fit in the same sentence, but I guess it depends on if they blow-up, or meltdown, lol.

If nuclear power can benefit us, the question is more complicated than whether or not they are safe. Personal automobiles have benefitted transportation tremendously. On the other hand, tens of thousands of people die in automobile accidents. Nuclear power plants are not absolutely safe nor absolutely risky. They are in between, and the debate should be over whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

Fukushima?

What killed the nuclear power industry in the U.S. was the unfortunate facts that nuclear power generation is too powerful and its waste product uniquely hazardous. Burning stuff to generate power is one thing, but creating a nuclear reaction to do that turned out to be another. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl incidents are very rare, but still, we don't have any comparable incidents that occurred at coal- or gas-fired plants or hydro installations. It's unfortunate, because in order to create better sources of power generation, you'd expect they'd need to use more concentrated sources of energy. That's why coal is a better energy source than wood. But nuclear was just too good in that regard, passing a threshold where its efficiency is seen as not worth the risk of its inherent problems. All of which is too bad, because of course it's the one proven technology that has a negligible effect on climate change while still being able to deliver the volumes of power needed to replace fossil fuels.

Then there is its waste product. The waste products of burning oil, gas, and coal are diffused into the atmosphere, their bad effects diluted by our air. Nuclear's are sitting right there and are seen as a ticking bomb. Some of this is fear from misperception, but the problem of disposal of these toxic materials is very real.

My thriller novel, Green Power, uses the closing down of Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant as the stimulus for finding safer sources of alternate energy. But when terrorists get involved, all havoc breaks loose.