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Three Mile Island Shuts Down After Pump Failure
SchrodingerZ writes "The nuclear power station on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania shut down abruptly this afternoon. Its shutdown was caused when one of four coolant pumps for a reactor failed to work. 'The Unit 1 reactor shut off automatically about 2:20 p.m., the plant's owner, Exelon Corporation, reported. There is no danger to the public, but the release of steam in the process created "a loud noise heard by nearby residents," the company said.' If radiation was released into the environment, it is so low that it thus far has not been detected. The plant is a 825-megawatt pressurized water reactor, supplying power to around 800,000 homes, thought there has been no loss of electrical service. Three Mile Island was the site of a partial nuclear meltdown in 1979. The Unit 2 reactor has not been reactivated since."
Implying Three Mile Island was even a big deal.
But, to be fair, isn't this how these things are suppose to work? Something fails, everything gracefully shuts down?
Which won't stop every envirowhack on slashdot from waving his hankie and screaming "NUKLYUR EVIL!!".
It's not nuclear power that is evil, it's the fuckwads who end up working there and/or in charge of it. My father used to work in nuclear power stations, and he said once that the opening credits of The Simpsons are closer to reality than most people would like to think.
I'm sorry, but with the nuclear power industry, it's always jam tomorrow. It needs to be tightly controlled by people with no vested financial interest in it, but of course that is too fucking socialist for everyone nowadays.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it