Hi

stor
yofnucl
earpowerpl
ant
Anuclearpowerpl antornucl earpowerstat
ioni
sat hermalpowerstati
oninwhi chthe
heatsourceisanucl earreactor.Asiti
stypi
caloft
hermal powerstat
ions,heatisused
togeneratesteam thatdrivesast eam t
urbi
neconnectedtoageneratorthatproduces
elect
ri
cit
y.Asof23Apr il
2014, t
heIAEAreportt
hereare450nuclearpowerr eactor
sin
operati
onoper at
ingin31count r
ies

Nuclearplantsareusuall
yconsider
edtobebasel oadst ati
onssi ncefuel
isasmal l
par
t
ofthecostofpr oduct
ion]andbecausetheycannotbeeasi lyorqui ckl
ydi
spatched.
Theiroperati
onsandmai ntenance(O&M)andfuel costsare, al
ongwi t
hhydropower
stat
ions,atthelowendoft hespectrum andmaket hem suitableasbase-l
oadpower
suppli
ers.Thecostofspentf uelmanagement,
howev er
, i
ssomewhatuncer tain.

Elect
rici
tywasgener atedbyanucl earreactorforthefir
sttimeev eronSept ember3,
1948att heX-10Gr aphit
eReactori nOakRi dge,Tennesseei ntheUni t
edSt ates,and
wast hef ir
stnuclearpowerplantt opoweral ightbulb.Thesecond, largerexperi
ment
occurredonDecember20, 1951att heEBR-Iexperimentalstati
onnearAr co,I
dahoin
theUni t
edSt ates.OnJune27, 1954, t
hewor l
d’sfir
stnuclearpowerpl antt ogenerate
elect
rici
tyf orapowergr idst
artedoper ati
onsatt heSov i
etcityofObninsk. Thewor l
d’s
fi
rstfullscalepowerst ati
on,CalderHal l
inEnglandopenedonOct ober17, 1956.The
fi
rstfullscalepowerst ati
onwithaPWR- t
ypereactorwasaShi ppi
ngpor tAtomicPower
Stati
on, commi ssionedonMay26, 1958.

I
nt heUSA, Westinghousedesignedthefir
stful
lycommer cial PWRof250MWe, Yankee
Rowe, whi chstart
edupi n1960andoper atedto1992.Meanwhi l
etheboil
ingwater
reactor( BWR)wasdev el
opedbyt heArgonneNationalLabor ator
y ,
andthefir
stone,
Dresden- 1of250MWe, desi
gnedbyGener alEl
ectr
ic,wasst artedupearli
erin1960.A
prototypeBWR, Vall
eci
tos,ranfr
om 1957t o1963.Byt heendoft he1960s,order
swer e
beingpl acedforPWRandBWRr eact
orunitsofmor ethan1000MWe.

Canadianreactordev
elopmentheadeddownaquitedi
ff
erenttr
ack,usi
ngnat
ural
urani
um fuelandheavywaterasamoder at
orandcool
ant.Thefi
rstuni
tst
art
edupin
1962.ThisCANDUdesi gnconti
nuestoberefi
ned.

Francest
art
edoutwithagas-graphi
tedesi
gnsimil
art
oMagnoxandt hef i
rstreactor
start
edupin1956.Commercialmodelsoperat
edfr
om 1959.I
tthensett
ledont hree
successi
vegener
ati
onsofstandardi
sedPWRs, whi
chwasav er
ycost-ef
fectiv
est rat
egy
.

In1964thefi
rstt
woSovietnucl
earpowerplantswerecommi ssi
oned.A100MW boi li
ng
watergr
aphi
techannelr
eactorbeganoper
atinginBeloyarsk(
Urals)
.InNovovor
onezh
(Vol
garegi
on)anewdesign–asmal l
(210MW)pr essurisedwaterreact
or(PWR)
knownasaVVER( v
eda-
vodyanoiener
geti
cheskyreaktor–watercooledpowerr
eactor)
–wasbui
l
t.

Thefir
stl
argeRBMK( 1,000MW –high-
powerchannel r
eact
or)st
artedupatSosnovy
BornearLeni
ngradi
n1973, andi
ntheArcti
cnorthwestaVVERwithar at
edcapacit
yof
440MW beganoperating.Thi
swassupersededbya1000MWev ersionwhi
chbecame
astandar
ddesign.

InKaz akhst
ant heworld'sf
irstcommer cial
prot
otypefastneutronreactor(t
heBN-350)
startedupin1972wi thadesi gncapaci tyof135MWe( net)
,producingelect
ri
cit
yand
heatt odesal
inateCaspianseawat er
.IntheUSA, UK,FranceandRussi aanumberof
exper i
mentalfastneutr
onr eactorsproducedelectr
ici
tyfrom 1959,thelastoft
hese
closingin2009.ThisleftRussia'sBN-600ast heonlycommer ci
alfastreact
or,
unti
l
j
oi nedbyaBN- 800in2016.

Aroundtheworld,
wit
hfewexcept
ions,
othercount
ri
eshav
echosenli
ght-
waterdesi
gns
forthei
rnucl
earpowerpr
ogr
ammes, sothatt
oday69%oftheworl
dcapaci
tyisPWR
and20%BWR.

Nucl
earpoweri
nIndi
a
Nuclearpoweristhefi
ft
h-l
argestsourceofelect
rici
tyinIndi
aaftercoal,gas,
hydr
oelectr
ici
tyandwindpower .AsofMar ch2018, I
ndiahas22nucl earreactorsin
operati
onin7nuclearpowerplants,
hav i
ngat ot
al i
nstal
ledcapaci
tyof6, 780MW. [1]
[2]
Nuclearpowerproducedatotalof35TWhandsuppl i
ed3.22%ofI ndianelect
rici
tyin
2017.7morereactorsareunderconstruct
ionwithacombi nedgener ati
oncapacityof
4,
300MW.

InOct ober2010, Indi

adr ewupapl ant or eachanucl earpowercapaci t
yof63GW i n
2032butaf terthe2011Fukushi manucl eardi sasterinJapanpeopl earoundproposed
Indiannuclearpowerpl antsi
teshav elaunchedpr otests,r
aisingquesti
onsaboutat omic
ener gyasacl eanandsaf ealt
ernati
vet of ossilf
uels.Ther ehavebeenmasspr otests
againsttheFr ench-backed9,900MW Jai t
apurNucl earPowerPr oj
ectinMahar ashtr
a
andt heRussi an-backed2,000MW Kudankul am Nucl earPowerPl antinTami l
Nadu.The
stategov ernmentofWestBengal ,hasal sor efusedper missiontoapr oposed6,000MW
facili
tynearthet ownofHar i
purthatintendedt ohostsi xRussianreactor
s.APubl i
c
InterestLit
igati
on( PIL)hasalsobeenf iledagai nstthegov ernment’scivi
lnucl
ear
progr ammeatt heSupr emeCour t.

Nucl
earpoweri nI
ndiahassufferedfrom general
l
ylowcapaci t
yf act
ors.Asof2017,the
l
if
eti
mewei ghtedenergyavai
labi
lit
yfactoroftheIndi
anfleeti
s63. 5%.However
,capacit
y
f
actor
shavebeeni mpr ov
ingi
nr ecentyears.Theavail
abil
it
yfactorofIndi
anreact
ors
was69.4%intheyears2015-2017.Oneoft hemainreasonsforthelowcapacityf
actors
i
slackofnuclearf
uel.
Indi
ahasbeenmaki ngadv ancesi nt
hef i
eldofthorium-basedf uels,worki
ngtodesign
anddev el
opapr otot
y peforanat omicreactorusingthorium andl ow-enri
chedurani
um,
akeypar tofIndi
a'sthreestagenuclearpowerpr ogramme.Thecount ryhasalso
recent
lyre-i
nit
iat
editsinvolvementintheLENRr esearchactivi
tiesinadditi
onto
supporti
ngwor kdonei nthef usi
onpowerar eathrought heITERi nit
iati
ve.

Li
stofNucl
earPowerPl
ant
sinI
ndi
a

S.
No Nameoft
hepowerst
ati
on St
ate Oper
ator Tot
alcapaci
ty

TarapurAt
omi
cPower
1. Mahar
asht
ra NPCI
L 1,
400
Stati
on

KakraparAt
omi
cPower
2. Guj
arat NPCI
L 440
Stat
ion

Kudankul
am Nucl
ear
3. Tami
lNadu NPCI
L 2,
000
PowerPlant

4. Kai
gaNucl
earPowerPl
ant Kar
nat
aka NPCI
L 880

MadrasAt
omi
cPower
5. Tami
lNadu NPCI
L 440
St
ati
on

RajasthanAt
omi
cPower
6. Raj
ast
han NPCI
L 1,
180
Stati
on

NaroraAt
omi
cPower
7. Ut
tarPr
adesh NPCI
L 440
St
ation
Thepr
oject
sunderconst
ruct
ionar
e

S.
No PowerSt
ati
on St
ate Oper
ator Tot
alcapaci
ty

1. Raj
ast
hanUni
t7and8 Raj
ast
han NPCI
L 1,
400

2. Kakr
aparUni
t3and4 Guj
arat NPCI
L 1,
400

3. Madr
as(
Kal
pakkam) Tami
lNadu NPCI
L 500

4. Kudankul
am Tami
lNadu NPCI
L 2,
000
Thepl
annedpr
oject
sar
e:

S.
No PowerSt
ati
on St
ate Oper
ator Tot
alcapaci
ty

1. Jai
tapur Mahar
asht
ra – 9,
900

Andhra
2. Kov
vada – 6,
600
Pradesh

3. Gor
akhpur Har
yana NPCI
L 2,
800

Madhya
4. Bhi
mpur NPCI
L 2,
800
Pr
adesh

5. Mahi
Banswar
a Raj
ast
han NPCI
L 2,
800

6. Kai
ga Kar
nat
aka NPCI
L 1,
400

Madhya
7. Chut
ka NPCI
L 1,
400
Pr
adesh

8. Madr
as Tami
lNadu BHAVI
NI 1,
200
 9. Tar
apur Mahar
asht
ra – 300

10. t
.b.
d.(
wasHar
ipur
) WestBengal – 6,
600

11. t
.b.
d.(
wasMi
thi
Vir
di) Guj
arat – 6,
600

CANDUr
eact
or
TheCANDU, forCanadaDeuter
ium Urani
um, i
saCanadi anpressurizedheavy-water
react
ordesignusedt ogener
ateelectr
icpower.Theacronymr efer
st oit
sdeut er
ium
oxide(heav
ywat er
)moderat
orandi t
suseof( or
igi
nall
y,natur
al)uranium f
uel.CANDU
react
orswer efir
stdevel
opedinthelate1950sand1960sbyapar tnershi
pbet ween
AtomicEnergyofCanadaLi mit
ed( AECL),t
heHy dr
o-El
ectri
cPowerCommi ssi
onof
Ontari
o,CanadianGeneralEl
ectri
c,andothercompanies.

Therehav ebeent womaj ortypesofCANDUr eactors,theor iginaldesignofar ound500

MWet hatwasint endedtobeusedi nmul ti
-r
eactorinstallat
ionsi nlargepl ants,andt he
rati
onali
zedCANDU6i nthe600MWecl assthatisdesi gnedt obeusedi nsi nglest and-
aloneunitsorinsmal lmulti
-unitplant
s.CANDU6uni t
swer ebui l
tinQuebecandNew
Brunswick,aswel lasPakist
an, Argentina,SouthKor ea,Romani a,andChi na.Asi ngle
exampl eofanon- CANDU6desi gnwassol dtoIndia.Themul ti-
unitdesi
gnwasused
onlyinOntari
o,Canada, andgr ewi nsizeandpowerasmor euni tswer einstalledi nthe
provi
nce,reaching~880MWei nt heuni t
sinstal
ledatt heDar l
i
ngt onNucl earGener ati
ng
Stati
on.Anef f
or ttorat
ional
izet helar
geruni t
sinaf ashi onsimi lartoCANDU6l edt o
theCANDU9.

Bytheear ly2000s, salesprospectsfortheor i

ginalCANDUdesi gnsweredwi ndli
ngdue
tothei ntroduct ionofnewerdesi gnsf r
om ot hercompani es.AECLr espondedby
cancel l
ingCANDU9dev el
opmentandmov ingt otheAdv ancedCANDUr eactor(ACR)
design.ACRf ai
ledtof indanybuyers;i
tslastpot enti
alsalewasf oranexpansionat
Darli
ngt on, butt hi
swascancel l
edin2009.I nOct ober2011, theCanadianFederal
Gover nmentl icensedt heCANDUdesi gntoCanduEner gy( awhol l
yownedsubsi diaryof
SNC- Lav ali
n) ,whichal soacquir
edt heformerr eactordevelopmentandmar keti
ng
div
isionofAECLatt hattime.CanduEner gyof f
erssuppor tservi
cesforexisti
ngsites
andi scompl eti
ngfor mer l
ystal
l
edi nst
all
ationsi nRomani aandAr genti
nathrougha
partnershipwi t
hChi naNat i
onalNuclearCor porati
on.SNCLav al
in,t
hesuccessort o
AECL, ispur suingnewCandu6r eactorsalesinAr genti
na( Atucha3),aswellasChi na
andBr
it
ain.Sal
esef
for
tfort
heACRr
eact
orhasended.

Casest
udy
Cher
noby
ldi
sast
er
TheChernobyldisaster
,al
sor ef
err
edt oastheCher noby l
accident
,wasacat astr
ophic
nucl
earaccident.I
toccurr
edon25–26Apr i
l1986intheNo.4l i
ghtwatergraphi
te
moderatedreactorattheChernobylNuclearPowerPl antnearthenow-abandonedt own
ofPri
pyat,i
nnorthernUkraini
anSovietSocial
istRepublic,Sov
ietUnion,
approximately
104km (65mi )northofKiev

Theev entoccurreddur ingal ate-nightsafet yt

estwhi chsimul at
edast at i
onbl ackout
power -
fail
ure,i
nthecour seofwhi chsafet ysystemswer eintenti
onal lyt urnedof f.A
combi nati
onofinher entr eactordesignf l
awsandt her eactoroper ator sar rangingthe
coreinamannercont rarytot hecheckl i
stf ort
het est ,eventuall
yresul t
edi n
uncont r
oll
edreactioncondi t
ions.Wat erflashedi ntost eam gener atingadest ructi
ve
steam explosi
onandasubsequentopen- airgr
aphi tef i
re.
[]
Thi sfi
repr oduced
considerableupdraftsf oraboutni neday s.Thesel oft
edpl umesoff i
ssi onpr oduct si
nto
theatmospher e.Theest i
mat edradi oacti
v einventoryt hatwasr eleaseddur i
ngt hi
svery
hotfir
ephaseappr oximat elyequal edinmagni tudet heai rbornefissi onpr oduct s
rel
easedi ntheinit
ialdest ructi
veexpl osi
on.Thi sr adioactivemat erial precipitatedonto
partsofthewest ernUSSRandot herEur opeancount ries.

Dur i
ngt heacci dent, steam-blastef fectscausedt wodeat hswithi
nthefacil
it
y:one
i
mmedi atelyaf tertheex pl
osi
on, andt heothercompoundedbyal et
haldoseofr adi
ation.
Ov erthecomi ngday sandweeks, 134ser vicemenwer ehospitali
zedwithacute
radiati
onsi ckness( ARS) ,ofwhi ch28f i
remenandempl oyeesdiedinthedays-to-
mont hsaf terwar dAddi t
ional
ly,appr oximatelyf ourt
eenradiati
oninducedcancerdeat hs
amongt hisgr oupof134hospi t
al i
zedsur vi
v orswer et
of oll
owwi thi
nthenextteny ears
(1996) .Amongt hewi derpopul ation,anexcessof15chi l
dhoodt hyr
oidcancerdeat hs
wer edocument edasof2011. [Itwilltakefur t
hertimeandi nvesti
gati
ontodef i
niti
vely
deter
minetheelev
atedrel
ati
ver
iskofcanceramongthesur
viv
ingempl
oyees,
those
thatwer
einit
ial
l
yhospit
ali
zedwi
thARS, andthepopul
ati
onatl
arge

TheCher noby l accidentisconsider edt hemostdi sastr

ousnuclearpowerpl antaccident
i
nhi story
, bothi ntermsofcostandcasual ti
es.Iti
soneofonl ytwonuclearener gy
accidentsclassi fi
edasal evel7ev ent( themaxi mum classi
fi
cati
on)ont heInter
national
NuclearEv entScal e,
theot herbeingt heFukushi maDai i
chinucl
eardisasterinJapani n
2011Thest rugglet osafeguar dagai nstscenariosthatwerepercei
ved[ashav i
ngt he
potentialf
orgr eat ercatastrophe,togetherwi t
hl at
erdecontaminati
oneff or
tsoft he
surroundings, ulti
mat el
yinv ol
vedov er500,000wor kersandcostanest i
mat ed18bi ll
i
on
rubl
es.

Ther emainsoft heNo.4r eactorbuildi

ngwereenclosedinalargecoverwhichwas
namedt he"ObjectShelt
er",
oftenknownas" thesarcophagus".Thepurposeofthe
structur
ewast oreducethespr eadoftheremaini
ngr adi
oacti
vedustanddebrisfrom
thewr eckageandt heprotecti
onoft hewreckagefrom furt
herweatheri
ng.The
sarcophaguswasf ini
shedinDecember1986atat i
mewhenwhatwasl ef
tofthe
reactorwasent eri
ngthecol dshut-downphase.Theencl osur
ewasnoti nt
endedasa
radiati
onshield,butwasbui l
tquicklyasoccupati
onalsafetyf
orthecrewsoftheot her
undamagedr eactorsatthepowerst ati
on,wit
hNo.3cont i
nui
ngtoproduceelectr
icit
y
upi nt
o2000.

Theacci
dentmoti
vat
edsafet
yupgradesonal
lremai
ningSovi
et-
desi
gnedreact
orsi
n
theRBMK(Cher
nobylNo.4)f
amil
y,ofwhicht
encont
inuedtopowerelect
ri
cgri
dsasof
2019.

Letusnowseewhatl
edt
othedi
sast
er.

Ther eactoruni
t4wast obeshutdownf orrouti
nemai ntenanceon25Apr i
l1986.But,
it
wasdeci dedtotakeadv ant
ageoft hi
sshutdownt odeterminewhet her, i
ntheeventofa
l
ossofst ationpower,t
heslowingt urbi
necouldprovideenoughelect r
icalpowerto
operatethemai ncorecooli
ngwat ercir
cul
atingpumps, until
thediesel emergency
powersuppl ybecameoper ati
ve.Theaim ofthistestwast odeter
mi ne whethercooli
ng
ofthecor ecouldconti
nueintheev entofalossofpower .

Duet othemi sconcept

ionthatthi
sexperimentbelongstothenon- nuclearpartoft
he
powerpl ant,
itwascarri
edoutwi t
houtapr operexchangeofinformat i
onbet weenthe
testi
ngdepar t
mentandt hesafetydepart
ment .Hencetheteststartedwi t
hinadequat
e
safetyprecauti
onsandt heoperati
ngpersonnelwerenotalert
edt ot henuclearsaf
ety
i
mpl i
cationsoftheelectri
calt
estanditspotenti
aldanger
.

TheExper
iment
Accordi
ngt
othetestpl
anned,
the EmergencyCoreCool
ingSy
stem (
ECCS)ofthe
react
or,
whi
chprovi
deswaterforcool
ingthereact
orcor
e,wasshutdowndel
iber
atel
y.

Forthetestt
obeconduct ed,t
her eactorhastobestabi
l
izedatabout700-1000MW
pri
ortoshutdown, butitfel
ldownt o5000MW duet osomeoperational
phenomenon.
Later
,theoperat
orwor kinginthenightshiftcommit
tedanerror
,byinsert
ingthereact
or
contr
ol r
odssofar.Thiscausedt her eact
ortogoint
oanear -
shutdownstate,dr
opping
thepoweroutputtoaround30MW.

Sincet hislowpowerwasnotsuf fi
cienttomakethetestandwil
lmaket hereactor
unst able,i
twasdeci dedtorestor
et hepowerbyextr
acti
ngthecontrol
rods,whichmade
thepowerst abil
i
zeat200MW.Thi swasactuall
yaviol
ati
ontosafetyl
aw, dueto
the positi
vev oi
dco-ef
fi
ciency
 ofthereactor
.Posi
ti
vevoidcoef
fi
cienti
st heincr
easing
numberofr eacti
vit
yinareactort
hatchangesintost
eam.Thetestwasdeci dedt obe
carriedoutatt hi
spowerlevel
.

Actuall
y,thereactor
swerehighl
yunst abl
eatthel owpowerlevel
,pr
imari
lyowi
ngtothe
controlr
oddesi gnandtheposit
ivevoidcoeffi
cientfact
orst
hataccel
erat
ednucl
ear
chainreacti
onandt hepoweroutputifthereact
or sl
ostcool
ingwater.

Thefol
lowi
ngimageshowsthereact
or4wheretheexper
imentwasconduct
ed.Thi
s
pi
ctur
ewast akenaf
terev
ery
thi
ngwasrest
ored.
At1:23, onApri
l26th 
1986,theengineer
scontinuedwi
ththei
rexperi
mentandshutdown
theturbineengi
net oseeifitsi
nerti
alspi
nningwouldpowerthereact
or’
swaterpumps.
I
nf act
, i
tdidnotadequatelypowert hewaterpumpsandwi t
houtthecool
ingwatert
he
powerl evel
inthereactorgotsurged.

Thewat erpumpsst ar
tedpumpi ngwat erataslowerrat eandtheytogetherwitht
he
entrytot hecor eofsli
ght l
ywarmerf eedwater,
mayhav ecausedboil
ing(voidfor
mation)
atthebot tom ofthecore.This,
alongwi t
hxenonbur nout ,mighthaveincreasedthe
powerl ev elatthecore.Thepowerl evelwasthenincreasedt o530MW andcont i
nued
torise.Thef uelel
ementswer erupturedandleadtost eam generati
on,whichincr
eased
theposi ti
v ev oi
dcoeffi
cientr
esult
inginhighpowerout put.

Thehi ghpowerout putalarmedt heengineerswhot ri

edtoi nsertallthe200cont rolrods,
whichi saconv entionalprocedur edonei nordertocont rol t
hecor et emperature.But
theser odsgotblockedhal ftheway ,becauseoft heirgraphi teti
pdesi gn.So,bef oret he
control r
odswi t
ht heirfi
ve-met erabsorbentmat er i
al,
couldpenet r
atet hecore,200
graphitetipssimultaneousl yenteredthecor ewhi chfacil
itatedther eacti
ont oincr ease,
causinganexpl osiont hatblewof ft
he1,000-tonheav ysteel andconcr etel
idoft he
reactor,consequent l
yjammi ngthecont r
ol r
ods, whichwer ehalfwaydownt her eact or.
Ast hechannel pipesbegi nt orupture,
massst eam gener ationoccur redasar esul tof
depressur i
zati
onoft her eactorcoolingcircui
t.

Asaresult
,twoexplosi
onswer erepor
ted.Thefi
rstonewastheinit
ialst
eam expl
osi
on.
Event
uall
y,af
tertwotothreeseconds,asecondexplosi
ontookplace,whichcoul
dbe
possi
blyf
rom thebuil
d-upofhydrogenduetozir
conium-st
eam r
eact i
ons.

Allt
hemat erial
ssuchasFuel ,Moder atorandStructuralmateri
alswereejected,star
ting
anumberoff ir
esandt hedestroy
edcor ewasexposedt otheatmosphere.Inthe
explosionandensuingf i
re,morethan50t onsofradioacti
vemat er
ialwerereleasedinto
theatmospher e,whereitwascarriedbyai rcur
rents.Thiswas400t i
mest otheamount
ofradioacti
vemat er
ial
sr el
easedatt hetimeofHi r
oshi mabombi ng.

Fat
alEf
fect
soft
heDi
sast
er

TheCher
nobylNucl
earPowerPlantdi
sast
erinUkrai
neistheonl
yacci
denti
nthehi
stor
y
ofcommerci
alnucl
earpowert
ocausef at
ali
ti
esfr
om radi
ati
on.

Thereweremanyf
atal
eff
ect
sduet
other
adi
ati
onr
eleased.Af
ewoft
heef
fect
sar
e
l
ist
edbelow−

 Twoworker
shaddied.Oneimmedi
atelygotburntt
oashesaf
tert
heacci
dent
,
whi
let
heotherwasdeclar
eddeadatthehospit
alwit
hinf
ewhoursofadmi
ssi
on.

 28emer
gencywor
ker
sandst
affdi
edwi
thi
n4mont
hsoft
heacci
dentduet
othe
 t
her
mal
bur
nsandt
her
adi
ati
onef
fectont
hei
rbodi
es.

 Thi
sacci
dentcr
eat
ed7,
000casesoft
hyr
oidcancer
.

 Acut
eradi
ati
onsyndr
ome(ARS)wasdi
agnosedi
n237peopl
e,whower
eon-
sit
e
andi
nvol
vedincl
eani
ngup

 Thel
and,
airandgr
oundwat
erwer
eal
lcont
ami
nat
edt
oagr
eatext
ent
.

 Thedir
ectandindi
rectexposur
etoradiat
ionledtomanysev
ereheal
thprobl
ems
suchasDownsSy ndrome,Chromosomal Aberr
ati
ons,
Mutat
ions,
Leukemia,
Thyr
oidCancerandCongenitalMal
functi
ons,etc.

 Anumberofpl
ant
sandani
mal
faceddest
ruct
ionasaf
ter
-ef
fect
.

THREEMI
LEI
SLAND
OnMar ch28,1979, t
herewasapar t
ialmel t
downoft hecoreinthenumber2r eactorat
ThreeMileIsl
andNucl earGenerati
ngSt at
ion(TMI -2)nearHarri
sburg,Pennsy l
vania.
Thisi
ncidentremainsthewor stacci
denti nthehistoryofU.S.commer cialnuclear
power.Noonewasi nj
uredandt herewasnosi gnif
icantrel
easeofnucl earradi
ation,but
ther
ewast her eal
potential
foramaj ordisaster.Theaccidentalsostokedconcer ns
aboutthesafetyofnuclearpowerandl edt oadr opinpubli
csuppor tfornuclearpower .

Get
ti
ngt
other
ootoft
hepr
obl
em

Likenearl
yallaccidents,
anumberoff actor
scont ributedtotheaccidentatTMI-2.In
ordertounderstandwhatoccur redatTM1- 2, i
tisusef ul
toknowt hebasicplantdesign.
TMI -
2hadacl osedpr i
mar yl
oopwher epri
mar ycool antwasheatedasi tf
lowedt hr
ough
thereact
orcor eandcool edasittransf er
redheatt hroughthesteam generatortothe
secondaryloop.Theheatt hatwast r
ansferredtothesecondar yloopwast henusedt o
turnaturbi
neconnect edt oagener atortopr oduceel ect
ri
cit
y.
Withsomet hingascompl i
catedastheaccidentatTMI -
2,i
tcanhel ptohav easimple
methodt oorganizet heinformati
on.A 
CauseMap, ani nt
uit
ivemet hodforperf
orming
a r
ootcauseanal ysis,canbebui l
ttovi
suall
ylayoutthecause- and-ef
fectrel
ati
onshi
ps
ofthecausest hatcont r
ibutedtotheacci
dent.Thef i
rststepi nCauseMappi ngit
to 
defi
net heproblem  byfi
lli
nginanOutli
newhi chincludeslisti
ngtheimpactstothe
organi
zationalgoals.TheCauseMapi sbuil
tbyst art
ingatoneoft heimpactedgoals
andasking“ why”quest i
ons.Eachanswert oa“why ”quest i
oni saddedasaboxt othe
CauseMap.Anexampl eofaf i
ll
edinOutl
ineforTMI -
2i sbelow.

SoWHYwasther
eapotent
ial
forasignif
icantnucl
earr
elease?Ther
ewasaparti
al
mel
tdownoft
her
eact
orcorebecausethecorewasuncov ered,
meaningi
tdi
dn’
thave
coolantoni ttohel ptr
ansferenergyawayf rom thecoreanditmeltedwhent he
temper atureincreasedsigni
ficant
ly.Thereactorwasuncov eredbecausealargev
olume
ofprimar ycoolantwasl ostthroughapr essur
er eli
efv
alve.TheCauseMapcan
continuet obeexpandedbyaski ng“ why”questi
ons.Tov i
ewahi gh-l
evelCauseMapof
thi
sinci dent,
clickonthei magebelowanddownl oadt
hePDF.

St
uckopenr
eli
efv
alv
e

Theaccidentbeganwithfail
uresinthesecondaryloopthatr esultedinalossoffeed
watertothesecondarysideofthesteam generators,meaningt hatheatandpressure
i
ncreasedintheclosedprimaryloop.Theplantwasdesi gnedt owi t
hstandalossof
feedwater,butanaddit
ionalf
ail
ureofapr i
mar ypressurereli
efv alv
emagni f
iedthe
probl
em.

Thepr essurereli
efv al
ve(thesafetyvalv
elabeledinthesimplif
iedsy st
em diagram
above)wasdesi gnedtoopenwhent hepr i
maryplantpressureincr
easedabov easet
l
imit.Ther eli
efvalveli
ft
edasar esul
toftheincreasedpressureafterthel
ossoff eed
waterasi ntended,butitfai
ledtoreseatasdesignedafterpressuredecreased.The
val
ver emai nedopenascool antcont
inuedtoflowoutofi tunt
ilamanual blockv alve
wascl osedt oisol
ateit.

Oper
ator
sunawar
eval
vewasopen

Asment ionedabove,therewasablockval
vethatcouldhav
ebeenshuttostoptheloss
ofcoolant,butoper
atorswereunawareofthefactthatt
heval
vewasstuckopen.They
di
dnott akeactiontomi t
igat
ethesi
tuat
ionunti
litwastool
atetopr
eventthepart
ial
meltdownoft hecore.

Itiseasytoseewhatwasoccur ri
nginTMI -
2wi t
hthebenef i
tofhi
ndsight,
butitwasn’
t
clearastheinci
dentplayedout
.Thecontrolroom attheplantwashugeandhad
hundredsofindicat
ions.
 Whenthisi
ncidentoccurred,oper
atorsr
eceiveddozensof
alarms,bothaudibl
eandf l
ashi
ngli
ghts,i
nashor tperi
odoft i
mewi t
houtanyobv i
ous
prior
it
y. 

Inadditi
on, operator
shadf al
seindicationthatthepressur ereli
efv al
vewascl osed.
Therewasal ightthatoper at
orsassumedi ndicat
edv alv
eposi t
ionandi tshowedt hat
thepressurer el
iefvalv
ewascl osed.Thei ndicati
onactual l
yshowedt hestatusoft he
solenoidthatoper at
edt hepressurer eli
efvalveandonlyi ndicatedwhethert hesol enoid
waspower edornot ,notwhet herthev alv
ewasact ual
lyclosed.Thesol enoi dhad
operatedasi twasexpect edtocloset hevalve,butthevalvehadf ail
edtor eseatsot he
l
ightindicatedthatthepr essurereli
efwascl osedwheni twasnot .Operatorshadnot
beentrai
nedonthef
actthattheval
veindi
catoronl
yshowedsol
enoi
dstat
usnorwher
e
theycoul
dlookf
oral
ter
nativeconfi
rmati
onthattheval
vewascl
osed.

Alarmscont i
nuedthroughouttheincidentandthesheerv ol
umeofi nformationmadeit
di
fficul
ttointer
prett
hesituati
onaccur atel
y. 
Addintheindicat
ionthatfalsel
yled
operatorstobeli
evethevalvewascl osedandanext remelyhighstressfulenvi
ronment
andi ti
smucheasi ertounderstandwhyi ttookthem solongtoisolatetheleaking
pressurerel
iefval
vethanitmayhav eatf ir
stglance.

Sowhati
s“t
he”r
ootcause?

Manypeopl ear et empt edt osayt hestuckopenr eli

efv al vewas“ THE”r ootcauseoft he
ThreeMi leIslandacci dentandi twascer tainlyamaj orf actor,buti tdoesn’ ttel
lthe
whol est ory.Ident i
fyi
ngasi ngle“rootcause”i sgener allynothel pful andt endstol i
mit
thesol utionst hatar econsi dered.Buildinga  Mapandi dent if
y i
ngt he sy stem of
causes  (plural)t hatcont r
ibutedtoani ncidenthel psinv estigatorsdi gdeeperand
naturallywi denst hesol uti
onst hatareconsi dered.Forexampl e, i
tisnotonl yimpor t
ant
tounder st andt hatt her eliefvalvewasst uckopen, butt oal sounder standwhyi ttookso
l
ongf oroper at or stoi dentifythatitwasopen.Wel i
kelywoul dn’tbet alkingaboutt hi
s
i
ncidentt odayi foper atorshadabet terunder st
andi ngoft hepl antcondi ti
onsast he
accidentoccur redandwer eabletoqui cklyt akeactionst omi t
igatet hei nci
dent.Inmy
opinion, thebi ggestl essont obel earnedf rom Thr eeMi leIslandi st hatoper ator
scan
onlymakedeci sionst hatar easgoodast hei nf
or mat i
onandt rainingt heyaregiv en.

CaseSt
udyI
:Fukushi
ma2011

11Mar ch2011.Amagni tude9.0off

shoreear
thquakehitJapan.Thiswasf ol
l
owedbya
14-metretsunamiwhichsweptintothecoast
altowns,destroy
ingmulti
tudesof
i
nfrastr
uctureini
tspath.Unfor
tunat
ely,
thewavesalsostrucktheFukushimaDaii
chi
nuclearpl
ant

Whi l
et heoperat
ingreactorshadshutdownsaf elyoncetheeart
hquakest r
uck,
electr
icalpowerwasst il
lneededt ocoolt
hereactorcor
esandnear bypondsspent
nuclearfuelrods(t
herewasst ill
resi
dualheatf
rom ongoingfi
ssionreacti
onspriorto
theshut down)(Andt hatwast heorigi
nofhowt heenti
reinci
dentmanifestedi
tself
.
Backupdieselgenerat or
sf ai
ledtoworkast heyhavebeenhitbyt hetsunami .Without
thenecessaryel
ectricalpowerf orcool
ing,t
hr eeoft
hereactorsbegant ogoi nto
mel t
down(Lynas2011, p.177).Andtherestisverymuchhistory
.Whi l
et hereareno
dir
ectdeathsduetot hemel t
down, manyoft heworker
ssufferedf r
om radiati
on
poisoni
ngandi t
slikes.

Thereasonfordiscussi
ngthecaseofFukushi
mawast
obr
ingt
oli
ghtcer
tai
nper
ti
nent
fact
srelat
ingnuclearpowerpl
anti
nci
dents:

Yes,
Iagr
eet
hatnucl
earpl
ant
sar
erel
ati
vel
ypr
onet
odi
sast
ers.Ther
iski
sther
e.

Hi
stor
y(ThreeMil
eIsland1979,Cher
nobyl
1986andFukushi
ma2011)hasshownus
t
hatnucl
earpowerplantscanbeasourceofr
adi
ati
oncontaminat
ionandpol
l
uti
on
whenthi
ngsdonotgoaspl anned.

BUT,i
talsoshowsusthatnucl
earpowerpl
ant
sbyi
tsel
far
enott
hesi
ngl
ereasonf
or
di
sast
er!Oft
en,acci
dent
soccurdueto:

Humannegligencedesi
gndefi
cienci
es(l
ackofsafetyupgr
adesaswithFukushi
ma,
shoul
dn’
ttheyhavelocat
edthei
rback-upgener
atorsmorestr
ategi
cal
l
yand

Componentf
ail
ures

Simplysuggest ingthatnuclearpowerpl ant sar

esimpl ydanger ouswoul dnotbeaf ai
r
assessmentofani nv enti
onthatcanhav et hepotentialtoreallybenefithumansi nour
searchf orcleanerenergyalter
nat i
ves.Fur t
hermore,newgener ati
onsofnucl earpower
plantsar eunderway,allofwhichhol dspr omiseofabr ighterfutureforthenuclear
i
ndust r
y .Iti
sunderstandablethatout comesofnucl earpl antdisastersarethemai n
reasonswhymanyf earandr ejecttheuseofnucl earpowerpl ants.Butaresuch
outcomesnecessar il
yinherentinallnuclearpowerpl ants?Shoul dwet hen,becauseof
suchhi stori
calevents,rej
ectapot enti
al‘weapon’inourbat t
lewi t
hglobal warmingand
cli
mat echange.