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The report warns that U.S. nuclear reactors have the same design and the same vulnerabilities to protracted loss of power as the Fukushima nuclear reactors that exploded as a result of a protracted blackout caused by a tsunami on March 11, 2011:
It is important to note that the Fukushima facility employed General Electric reactors; Japan’s regulatory structure was modeled after the United States’; and the plant’s staff were trained in accordance with U.S. standards and procedures; everything was state-of-the-art and in line with best U.S. practices.
The risk of U.S. nuclear reactors “going Fukushima” can be very significantly reduced by storing spent nuclear fuel in dry cask storage, instead of cooling ponds. “Estimates indicate that by placing spent fuel in dry cask storage, the United States can diminish overall loss of containment risks to North America by as much as 75 percent in terms of human impact, landmass contamination, and radiation released.”
The report recommends EMP hardening nuclear reactor controls, emergency generators, and “creating accessible fuel stores in excess of seven days’ needs.”
The Congressional EMP Commission and Ambassador Henry Cooper, an adviser to the commission and former director of the Strategic Defense Initiative, have also recommended giving high priority to protecting nuclear reactors from EMP.
Protecting nuclear reactors would not only eliminate the risk from radioactive contamination, but would convert the reactors into islands of survivability that could enable rapid recovery of the national power grid from EMP and other threats. Policymakers would be wise to take these realities into account.
This story was originally published here. Dr. Peter Vincent Pry served as chief of staff of the Congressional EMP Commission, on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee and at the CIA.
Original Article:http://allnewspipeline.com/Vulnerability_Of_Nuke_Reactors_Is_Death_Sentence_For_America.phpRead More:Devastating Solar Storm A Matter Of ‘When, Not IF’ Warns Office As Solar Orbiter Begins TestingWatch More:As White House Issues Warning On Preparedness, Many Wonder When The Pole Shift Will HappenRead More:NOAA Issues Geostorm Warning As Earth’s Magnetosphere Cracks
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