Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Quebec Gentilly Reactor on a Fault Line

Article

Yeah, well that's old news.  The St. Lawrence River valley is part of a failed rift system.  That makes the whole place one big fault line.  But active fault mechanisms are scattered along the system, and I don't think that the reactor location is worse than any other.

Still, it reminds me of how hopeless those guys are for seismic.  They never had any seismic expertise, and relied totally on the Federal Gov't experts, who usually had other things to do.  I have no idea of their foundation conditions, and for my whole career, we never talked.

People also forget that the type of earthquake required to significantly bother these plants is the type that will bring your house down on you.  Even in Japan, how will the radiation compare to over 10,000 dead, and ten times that amount under severe life-shortening conditions.  If you want to panic, panic about that wobbly chimney over your head!

ps.  I'll bet a dime to a hole in a donut that the Bruce Thing documents are delayed past the deadline.

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