At Fukushima, gensets were underground

[clearvision]

Times of India:

Finally, there is hesitant hope that the key factor leading up to the nuclear disaster in the Japanese nuclear plant may be resolved. Workers battling to restore power supply to the damaged reactors in Fukushima have succeeded in reaching up to reactor number 2 and Tepco, the nuclear plant operator, said on Friday that it hoped to start connecting the wires by Saturday.

But all depends on whether the pumps and valves feeding the reactors are functional after a week of blasts, gases and radiation. Power failure after the quake-cum-tsunami last week was the reason why uncontrolled heating up of three online reactors and the storage pools holding dangerous spent fuel rods took place over the past week.

Analysis emerging now shows that there were 13 diesel generators installed in a below-ground bunker near the seawall protecting the nuclear plant from the ocean. The diesel fuel was reportedly stored in tanks built on the sea front to facilitate easy unloading from ships.

After the quake, the reactors had automatically shutdown. Off-site power too had snapped. The generators managed to provide power for about an hour when the 10-meter tsunami reached the plant, breached the seawall, swept away the diesel tanks and drowned the generators. This led to a critical condition called "station blackout".

[Sabre86]

Definitely a design flaw, but hindsight is always 20/20. Foresight rarely if ever is.

[clearvision]

As long as they were designed to tolerate some sort of reasonable estimate for a tsunami. Otherwise just plain dumb.

[Sabre86]

As long as they were designed to tolerate some sort of reasonable estimate for a tsunami. Otherwise just plain dumb.

The plant was designed to ride out a tsunami, but the one which struck was beyond that design limit.

 

One would think, with all of the experience the Japanese have in dealing with earthquakes and tsunamis, they would have built for a tsunami at least a certain %%% higher than they ever reasonably expected.

[pollyannaish]

Well...and the twin towers were designed to withstand an airplane hit.

 

You really can't prepare for every contingency without so much expense it doesn't make sense. And even then, you can't plan for everything.

 

Anyone that does risk management will tell you that you must take care of the things with the highest likelihood and hope for the best on everything else. Such is life.

 

They learned some things, will change their priorities...and then something else will happen. It is the nature of life, imo.

 

It actually makes me upset when people beg the government to make them "safe" from everything. It's not possible and its a horrible waste of money.

 

 

If you haven't already, see if you can watch an old piece John Stossel did about fifteen years ago. It was called "Are we scaring ourselves to death?" and it was fantastic.

[Sabre86]

I'm not saying one can plan for every single contingency, but when it comes to nuclear reactors, better to overbuild than build just enough.

[Rheo]

Interesting map and info.

 

Dozens of nuclear reactors operate in earthquake-prone regions around the world. Among them, least 14 are in high-hazard areas; 10 of those are within a mile of a coastline.