"If plant designers considered every small possibility, they couldn't design anything."

[kristopher]

Shifting the legal burden of proving the relative safety for nuclear plants from plaintiffs to defendants could be a major factor in Japan's energy future...

Judge, experts in nuclear plant case show changes of attitude after Fukushima disaster

After the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the presiding judge and nuclear experts who testified in a case involving the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant have shown shifts in their attitudes on nuclear plant safety and how it should be handled by courts.

Court cases surrounding the safety of nuclear plants require referral to high-level expert knowledge to make a ruling, and are sometimes referred to as "science trials." In a still-ongoing case where residents are seeking a shut down of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, 11 experts have appeared in court and given their opinions.

Among them was University of Tokyo professor Haruki Madarame, currently head of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan. In February 2007 he said, "I don't think it is likely that two emergency power generators will fail at once," denying the likelihood of one disaster scenario. "If plant designers considered every small possibility, they couldn't design anything."

Akira Tokuyama, former president of Fuji Tokoha University and a geological researcher, testified in the trial that, "Even for the predicted Tokai Earthquake (a large, cyclical quake that is expected to one day hit the area), I can declare the plant safe on scientific grounds."...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110920p2a00m0na006000c.html

[Webster Green]

1. Works for me.

Don't design anything.

[dtexdem]

2. Well, they've already demonstrated that they can't design anything.

So that point is moot.

[RC]

3. Never mind they worked for nearly 40 years safely.

[kristopher]

4. You're right. That doesn't matter when the consequences of the eventual failure ...

...are of the magnitude, consequence and duration of those associated with multiple reactor meltdowns.

A point that the courts in Japan now seem to be taking into consideration.

[RC]

5. Now compare that safety record to a coal power generating plant or an oil refinery over their

lifetimes.

Most nuclear power plants do not eventually fail either. The have designed lifetimes, usually 40 years.

What the real problem is here is that the Luddites have new or replacement nuclear power generating plants so tied up in regulatory red tape, it is cheaper and easier to extend the life of existing, old technology nuclear power plants, instead of replacing them with newer and safer nuclear technology. So naturally there are problems.
In other words, YOU are part of the problem.

[kristopher]

6. University of Tokyo Prof. Haruki Madarame head of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan

February 2007
"I don't think it is likely that two emergency power generators will fail at once," "If plant designers considered every small possibility, they couldn't design anything."

- University of Tokyo Professor Haruki Madarame
head of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan

[RC]

7. What does that have to do with my last post?

Absolutely nothing is absolutely safe. Not even the buttons on your shirt.

[SpoonFed]

9. Yes yes

and my six shooter loaded with one bullet works safely for up to five clicks in a game of Russian roulette.
:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :hide:

[Yo_Mama]

8. Hamaoka NPS is already shut

I guess the ongoing trial is now about whether it will ever restart even if the tsunami protections are built.

I don't think so.

[kristopher]

10. Already shut with 500 tons of seawater in the reactor...

Seawater Mix-up at #Hamaoka Nuke Plant: Pipes Broke in the Condenser When the End Cap Fell Off

Chubu Electric Power Company released the one-page announcement (in Japanese) with colorful diagrams and photos of the condenser unit of its Reactor 5, where 500 tons of seawater entered the Reactor Pressure Vessel the other day when the reactor was being shut down.

"Multiple" small-diameter (3 centimeters) pipes out of "about 21,000" that carry seawater to cool the steam that drives the turbine broke, probably having been hit by the end cap of the 20-centimeter diameter pipe for recirculating the water.



Chubu's press release also says that a "small amount" of cobalt-60 was detected in the water chamber of the condenser. Chubu doesn't say how much, and but says cobalt-60 is one of the nuclides regularly found in the water in the RPV. Rest assured it wasn't released into the ocean, says Chubu.

Yomiuri also says the end cap was welded, not threaded. During the regular inspection in February this year, there was no problem with either the small pipes or the end cap, according to Yomiuri. The Reactor 5 at Hamaoka started to operate in 2005....

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/05/seawater-mix-up-at-hamaoka-nuke-plant.html

As the article asks, what could make the welded cap come off like that?