text-Fukushima-2013-1We can see this same “continuous”
trend with the accident at Fukushima. The triple meltdown itself at Fukushima
in March 2011 was just the beginning
Nuclear
power accidents are no longer one-off events. Instead, they can span years or
even decades, creating a sort of “continuous accident”.
Is Fukushima the new normal for nuclear reactors?
the Conversation, Benjamin Sovacool, 27 Aug 13,
”…..In the early 1980s, Yale sociologist Charles Perrow argued that the
partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island was a “normal accident”.
The crux of his argument was that complicated technological systems have
unavoidable problems that can’t be designed around.
Perrow’s argument — still relevant today — rested on
three pillars. First, people are fallible, even at nuclear reactors. Operator
error is still a very common factor in incidents and accidents.
Second, big accidents almost always have very small
beginnings. Nuclear power plants are so complex that relatively simple things —
shirt tails, fuses, light bulbs, mice, cats, and candles — can disrupt the
entire system.
And finally, many failures are those of
organisations more than technology. Given the right event, all these factors
can lead to system-wide failure. Perrow concludes that such high-tech,
dangerous systems are hopeless and should be abandoned, as the inevitable risks
of failure outweigh any conceivable benefits.
Nuclear reactors do have inherent advantages over
fossil fuels, but Perrow’s argument raises serious questions about nuclear
safety.
Never-ending
accidents
Even so, Perrow was writing in the 1980s. Surely
things have improved since then? Well, perhaps not. Read more »
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