Why do people fear nuclear energy

GlenQ
GlenQ
Sep 3, 2018 · 6 min read

As I’ve mentioned before, the idea of nuclear energy that the public has, does not come from they learn but rather what they hear and see on the news

Let me ask you honestly. When was the last time you see a technology breakthrough in this field, appeared in the front page of the newspaper? Not so much right? However, I’m sure more people will remember that one week where the news Fukushima Daiichi disaster (I wasn’t even born during the Chernobyl incident so I don’t think it’s fair of me to point that out) was plastered on every form of media; newspaper, radio, internet, you name it. Anyway, I still vaguely remember the timeI read the news when it first appeared. I wasn’t aware of where Fukushima was at that time yet the news was at the back of my head for some reason. That was how big the news was; to the point that someone who hold zero interest at the subject at hand got exposed to the same news for a number of time, to the point that it become part of his memory.

My main point is, people will tend to remember your mistakes than your successes. I don’t care how many time you succeed in life. A single mistake could spell the end of your career. That’s the world we live in. And as much as I want to change how people think, I know for a fact that it’ll need a much bigger effort to achieve such a feat. Instead, I hope a better education on nuclear energy is much easier and effective in convincing people to think otherwise.

Before we can convince them to believe in nuclear energy, I believe that explaining the problem in those two power plant would be the best place to start. The only two nuclear incident classified as level 7 threats.


Chernobyl Disaster

The fateful day happened on April 1986 when one of the reactor in Chernobyl exploded causing radioactive debris to spread thousands of miles. How did this accident occur the first place? This is my simplified version but should be sufficient to prove my point. (correct me if otherwise)

Negligence of Workers

This is from the initial report submitted in the INSAG-1 which is later deemed as incorrect; was that the power plant operator on duty played a big part in causing the incident. During one the test conducted by the workers, the emergency control system as intentionally shut down. The test was done as a low power output experiment (all the way to 1%). Upon slowly increasingthe power back, it went out of control and as a result, the heat produced so overwhelming that it boiled the water coolant into steam, increasing the pressure and exploded, causing the lid to be blasted out exposing the core to the air, which resulted in a second explosion.

Faulty reactor design

After further analysis, the report submitted in INSAG-7 reveals that the interference of the protection equipment did not contribute to the original cause of the accident, although they may have been a breach of regulation. Instead, according to the INSAG-7 Report, the chief reason for the nuclear disaster on that fateful day leads back to the fault in the reactors design which includes :-

  1. usage of a positive void coefficient which unnecessarily catalyst the nuclear reaction upon the formation of water vapour (instead of slowing it down)
  2. A flaw in the design of the control rod; which is supposed to absorb the neutron produced in the chain reaction in order to slow down further collision. An insufficient in length, plus the inappropriate type of material used, was counter intuitive and was unknown to the reactor operator.
  3. RBMK-1000 reactor design was not in compliance to the standards and with the safety requirement safety.

As you can see, the fault in the parts of the nuclear design clearly shows that Chernobyl disaster was mainly due to the incompetence of the design and the negligence of the personnel. In another word, from a technology perspective; it was not a problem impossible to solve. If done right, the disaster is not something that could not have been avoided. However, instead of making it a collective responsibility, I would like to focus on the fact that there’s no need to blame the lack of technology breakthrough.


Fukushima Daiichi Disaster

The devastation happened at Fukushima (photo credit to Himanshi Shah)

Another level 7 threat that took lives years after the Chernobyl disaster, the one in Fukushima happened in a similar fashion, but still… had a major difference. How are they similar? Well, the fuel rod containing the uranium overheated which eventually lead to a nuclear meltdown. The difference?? For starters, let’s look at it step by step.

First, as what most nuclear power plant would’ve experienced, the rods overheated, causing the temperature of the reactor to rise tremendously. Fukushima Daichi however, has a few layers of safety system installed. As soon the temperature reaches a certain threshold, multiple control rods was used to stop the nuclear fission which should have effectively stopped the reactor. However, the temperature continued to rise... This is where the first problem comes in.

Unexpected earthquake

Secondary water coolant which should have begun circulating the reactor, did not. This was due to the power outage, right after the earthquake. However, Fukushima Daiichi had a second safety system; an emergency power generator which runs another water cooling system that was supposed to cool down the already heated up reactor. This however, brings us to the second problem.

Unexpected tsunami

After the first earthquake, a 10 meter tsunami came an hour later. This in result, causes the emergency diesel generator to fail. This would then, activate the third safety system, a condenser which was supposed to turn the steam into water, reducing the pressure. But upon condensation, water level went down for some reason. With the main source of coolant reduced considerably, the temperature continued to rise which ultimately ended up in another nuclear meltdown.

Suspected leak

Why did the water level, which was supposed to be fixed in a closed chamber, went down?? According to Prof. Akito Omoto of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission suspected a leak somewhere in the reactor. In the process, the core melted, forming a magma like substance called corium. The final safety precaution, a pump which should have used the sea water to cool the reactor suffered the same failure on that day. The attempt to remove the heated vapour by releasing it into the chimney ended up as a catastrophe due to further leakage in hydrogen which reacted violently with oxygen, resulting in a big explosion.

Abandoned convenience store filled with radiation (photo credit to Himanshi Shah)
Check out more of her stunning works at instagram @gypsyinaspacesuit

Many people perceive the Fukushima disaster as a ultimate test by Mother Nature. Two humongous natural disaster of that magnitude doesn’t come often but due to human naively believe that, cost many lives.

However, quoting from someone who’s name I can’t seem to recall)

“Just because you got into an accident doesn’t mean you should stop driving. You learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

He then further explains it in another analogy as such…

“The incident was like a tree that tumbled on a car. The car was not broken”

With that said, I hope my point is made clear. I am however, interested in how other people sees these two incident.

My name is Glen and I’m a aspiring researcher, on a quest to change how we produce and consume energy.

GlenQ

Written by

GlenQ

“All of us, have a story to tell. Watch me change the world while telling the story of it.” -Glen

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade