Power plants

This is a map of every nuclear power plant in the world.
www.wano.info...

So many of us here on ats have a bug out plan. Others have a shelter in place plan.
But ether way what happens if the nuclear plants start melting down because the workers get sick?
I understand that for this to happen it would be the end of every society and that even the military at that point would be gone.
Though I'm sure the military , at least in the usa, would keep that from happening as long as they can.

But what if? Do any of you have a plan for getting away from the plants?

Anyone on the east coast of the usa would have to move. Only safe place would be in the rocky mountains.
But if it gets that bad then chances are the roads will be blocked or we wont have the gas needed to get ourselves and our food supplies all the way to those mountains. I live in north florida. That's a long drive.

So I was trying to find info on the cave systems in south usa. I thought if the worst happened I could go deep in a cave for a few years and wait out the radiation? Probably not a good plan though.

But really what choice would we have?
What are your plans for power plant melt downs?
Have you even considered it?

a reply to: scraedtosleep
www.nrc.gov...
there are safety interlocks in place to prevent what you describe

a reply to: scraedtosleep

They all have SCRAM features built in.

Assuming all else fails and all the nuclear powerplants melt down to the open sky with to many sick to stop it

I suggest eating a bullet

You can wait out the radiation from a bomb in a lifetime

To wait out the radiation from a powerplant will take 100 lifetimes

An interesting "what if?" as there are tons of preventative measures in place to keep this from happening. Aside from the technical controls you have the human controls as well for example - Controls already being utilized

Now in a situation where all controls failed, catastrophically and in succession, put your head between your knees...

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: scraedtosleep

They all have SCRAM features built in.

What if it's intentional and safety procedures get deactivated by new age cult members following telepathic messages from bad aliens.

OH $H!T 💣📣

a reply to: Trueman

I'd be impressed if they even got inside the gate, let alone the control room. They'd also need a degree in nuclear engineering to operate the plant too.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

So I guess the japanese plants were to destroyed by the tsunami for those systems to function?

I wonder how up to date those systems are and if every plant on earth has them?

a reply to: scraedtosleep

Yeah, thousands died when those melted down..
You can't get within hundreds of miles of fukoshima...

originally posted by: scraedtosleep
So I guess the japanese plants were to destroyed by the tsunami for those systems to function?

Yeah, an earthquake and tsunami can do that.

I don’t think this is likely with this virus as a cause but not beyond the possibility of one or two unauthorized reactors melting down. The normal power reactors will be staffed until there is no one left.

A Carrington class CME event would be catastrophic to all reactors as even if the controls survived, there would be no power to the cooling pumps after the reactors try to shut down manually or automatically. They require months of cooling water until the core is cool enough not to melt down. From about a week to two months, every one of the power reactors would melt down when the batteries die and the generators run out of fuel.

I have looked into this like you have and in the United States, there is nowhere that is far enough from the nearest reactor to be safe. Radiation from an atomic bomb will weaken over time to a safe level in a month or two but a power plant will just keep on giving off more radioactive material as it burns.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Trueman

I'd be impressed if they even got inside the gate, let alone the control room. They'd also need a degree in nuclear engineering to operate the plant too.

The plant people could get mind controlled by the aliens. It happened in movies so it is possible😳

a reply to: beyondknowledge

I have looked into this like you have and in the United States, there is nowhere that is far enough from the nearest reactor to be safe

High up in a cave of the rocky mountains should be safe enough?

a reply to: scraedtosleep

When would you come out? A hundred, five hundred, a thousand years after the disaster? Not in your lifetime.

Many workers are confined in onsite. Process has been ongoing since January. They like the military have it all down before hand and just have to read line by line what to do.

Lots of nuke workers around here the plants 3 miles away.

I can answer most questions.

But really if everyone's gone they plant will blow in a month. So if 99.9% died the rest would be nuked.

a reply to: scraedtosleep

The Fukushima plants were poorly designed. They were of the BWR instead of the PWR design, eliminating one barrier to radiation leakage, they were not designed to withstand seismic events to the degree plants in the US are, and no allowance was made for rising water levels.

The earthquake damaged the plants and a SCRAM (Safety Control Rods Activation Mechanism) was initiated as designed. Unlike most systems we are familiar with, a nuclear reactor is always "on" by default once the fuel pellets are loaded; the only way to turn it "off" is by the insertion of the control rods. The control rods fit inside the tubes of nuclear fuel at extremely tight tolerances and serve to absorb free neutron radiation (alpha particles) and thus stop or slow the chain reaction.

The control rods require power to insert, so there are three back-up sources of power (obviously one cannot get power from a plant under shutdown). First is the electrical grid itself, which can be used bi-directionally. Second are the diesel generators, huge diesel engines hooked to huge generators with fuel tanks that are always kept full for emergencies. Third are the batteries which are maintained on site and typically hold just enough energy to shut down the plant if there are no problems during the SCRAM.

The earthquake at Fukushima damaged the power grid so the diesel generators kicked on automatically. At this point there was no danger. The tsunami, however, flooded the fuel tanks, which were built far too low in elevation, and contaminated the fuel and made the diesel generators stop. That left the batteries. Delays in accessing the plant due to roads being impassable, combined with slow responses from TEPCO delayed the deployment of external generators until past the 10-hour limit, and the damage to the plant was severe enough to delay the SCRAM.

The result was that the plant went without power before the SCRAM was complete. As a result, the reactors overheated and warped the control rods, making it impossible to insert them once power was regained. All four reactor cores then went into full meltdown and are, at present, sitting in the bedrock below Fukushima, where they will remain radioactive for a few million years. How close they are to the Pacific and how much radiation is escaping that magma-filled tomb are questions that are open for debate.

In the US, newer plants are PWR design (although there are some older BWR plants still operating). Seismic design (which is the section I worked in) Is based on two orders of magnitude above the last earthquake in 100 years, and the last 120 or so years is actually considered when possible. Diesel generator design is more tightly regulated than Japan at the time, and the chances of contaminated fuel are much, much lower. The military, not the power plant owner, would take over operations should a plant get to the batteries stage and have any problems, so corporate interests would be ignored at that point.

The NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) in the US is extremely powerful and extremely dedicated to safety. The plant near me is not operating and will never operate because of that fact; the NRC found enough errors during construction to make them watch the last part of the construction so tightly the cost became prohibitive. No nuclear plant in the US gets a pass from these people; a planned visit from the NRC created an absolute "no mistakes or else" atmosphere that I saw get many people fired on the spot for minor safety violations. The short time I worked in the Power Production Division (which verifies/tests completed systems and turns them over to the operations division), I was in contact with NRC officials quite often. They do not have a sense of humor. Compared to these people, the IRS are comedians.

What you suggest is beyond the level of remotely possible in the US.

TheRedneck

Fruit pectin can help to protect people from some kinds of nuclear fallout, adding a little to the soup makes it so the nuclear material just gets pooped out if we eat it. Put jam on your toast. one box of pectin is all you need for a month of eating to help reduce your risk.

WE are used to sheltering in place and they have been trying to get people to start stocking a month of food and to have bug out bags for five or more years now. People don't listen, they are more interested in power watching game of thrones or other internet shows and playing video games than focusing on a game plan that is necessary.

Be prepared. Have an alternative heat source available, a kerosun heater would be good if the power goes out, as long as you have like ten gallons of kerosine in the garage. A small generator is all most people need, under two hundred fifty bucks, it will charge that eight hundred dollar cell phone too.

How does such an advanced country like Cuba not have a nuke plant? They are great friends with Russia, and the Dims say there so modern with better health care then even America

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: scraedtosleep

Yeah, thousands died when those melted down..
You can't get within hundreds of miles of fukoshima...

It helps when 70% of the water on the planet is helping to cool them down.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

Not in your lifetime.

If they all melt down and the world is eradiatedthen I guess that's my only choice.
What would you do?