Nuclear companies face reactor design problems, ethics questions

[Javaman]

http://www.grist.org/article/nuclear-companies-face-reactor-design-problems-ethics-questions/

Federal regulators have expressed serious safety concerns about the design for 14 of the nation’s 25 proposed new nuclear reactors, raising questions about the future of what the industry calls its “renaissance.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced last month that Westinghouse failed to demonstrate that the building designed to shield its AP1000 reactor from outside threats such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. In addition, there are concerns about whether the shield building, which also provides a radiation barrier, will be able to support the 8 million-pound emergency cooling water tank that’s supposed to sit on top.

“We’ve been talking to Westinghouse regularly about the shield building since October 2008, and we’ve consistently laid out our questions to the company,” said Michael Johnson, director of the NRC’s Office of New Reactors. “This is a situation where fundamental engineering standards will have to be met before we can begin determining whether the shield building meets the agency’s requirements.”

Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse, which is owned by the Toshiba Group of Japan, downplayed the NRC’s concerns, releasing a statement that said it “fully expected that the NRC would require additional analysis, testing, or actual design modifications to the shield building” and that it had “already begun to address certain portions of the design.” The company says it remains “confident” it will answer the NRC’s concerns.

[ensho]

1. kick

nt

[zeaper]

2. All this will require is some basic engineering

My bet is the engineering has been done, the hard part is explaining it to non-engineers.

As usual the media makes a big deal about nothing because the “N” word was used.