Many people believe that nuclear power stations are unsafe and should be shut down. I do not happen to agree with them, but that discussion is on-going, and I do not plan to go there.
I read your post, and feel that this is not a Y2K problem (failures in emergency diesel generators) unless Y2K causes a prolonged power outage. Power outages occur all the time and have not yet caused any problems. There have not been any meltdowns of reactors in the west or from reactors exported from the west. The most serious accident was Chernobyl, which was a RBMK reactor using a water-cooled, graphite moderated reactor, unlike the LWR reactors used in the west. The RBMK reactor is not licensable in Western nations.
I think there is more risk to reactors from earthquakes then from a loss of power, and that if people want 100% safety in their lives, they shouldn't fly or even drive cars.
As you know, I am a self proclaimed polly
Message 10749483
So.. here is a chance to perhaps convert a "polly" by showing me where I am wrong about the above four points.
I documented my reasons in post #7456, and was very disappointed to only get one response, and excellent reply from B.K. Myers who basically agreed with me, with the exception of the GPS date change on August 20-21. I really was interested to see if others had computers that would not start during a roll-over test, or believed embedded chips without a date / year input function might fail.
Most of the problems you foresee are based on a prolonged power outage. I truly believe that this not occur, because of the four points I make in my post, and the fact that Ontario Hydro, and many other power companies have simulated the changeover, and no problems occurred. The only problem with the utilities may be we receive a late or incorrect bill.
For those of us who believe there will be no serious problems, you can see why we appear complacent regarding this issue. I understand that many (most) on this thread are not as confident as I am, so I do not ridicule or criticize their efforts to prepare for next January.
But please try to understand that there are those of us who have carefully considered the facts and have reached a different conclusion.
As with many good arguments, a successful conclusion is to state our positions, and then agree to disagree.
Jim
P.S. Why did you think I would change my profile? |
