WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F.Bailey. September 9, 2004: Three years ago after the Twin Towers mass murder, there was a great deal of controversy over closing Indian Point, and that it was a terrorist target for a similar jumbo jet attack. It was an election issue. At that time, WPCNR spoke with a nuclear engineer who discussed the threat. In view of recent articles in The Journal News promoting the HBO Special on Indian Point and Chernobyl airing this week, WPCNR reprints that interview:
A recent news report speculated about Indian Point melting down if its dome or domes were hit by a jumbo jet. WPCNR wanted to know Sunday, if this was a strong possibility. One man who has supervised construction of modern nuclear facilities says it is not.
Chernobyl and Indian Point cannot be compared.
A veteran consultant and professional builder of nuclear plants to current NRC standards, most recently in North Carolina, spoke to WPCNR Sunday evening. He was flabbergasted by the premise of the article. The WPCNR nuclear expert whom we will call “Bill,” said comparing the Chernobyl meltdown to Indian Point was not a fair comparison.
First, Bill said the Chernobyl meltdown disaster occurred when the controllers “lost control of the chain reaction, and literally ran out of the plant.” He said there were no remote back-up systems in place at the Chernobyl plant to shut off the reaction.
There are back-up systems at Indian Point and all United States plants. He attributed the Chernobyl accident to human error without a recourse, which caused the destructive meltdown and massive radiation cloud.
U.S. Plant Backup Systems Stop the Reactor.
“You simply cannot compare a Russian-built nuclear plant with a United States plant,” He said. “As a result of the Three Mile Island incident alone, in the 1980s, American nuclear plants were directed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to install ‘redundant instrumentation,’ in distinctly separate areas of the complex which consists of auxiliary control panels of all systems.”
This is designed, he says, to prevent exactly what happened at Chernobyl. If Indian Point were to be hit by a plane, even two planes, the redundant system can shut down the reactor immediately. Yet, even in that case, release of radiation is highly unlikely.
Could a Plane Hit Cause a Meltdown?
WPCNR asked Bill if a plane penetrated a dome, whether this could cause radioactive steam to escape. Bill said that even after a dome hit, any resulting explosion would need to penetrate the reactor to release any radiation.
The reactor in the typical Westinghouse Plant (such as Indian Point 2 and 3) is encased in an additional 18 inches of stainless stee, Bill says. This steel would have to be penetrated by the plane wreckage and fire, to release any radiation. Bill feels this is extremely unlikely.
“You have to realize that the reactor casing is built to withstand rigid forces generated by major earthquakes by law. Should a plane penetrate the dome, it is unlikely it will generate enough impact or explosive force to penetrate the reactor. A plane is not an earthquake. What caused the WTC towers to collapse was driving a plane into a spider web of construction not a reinforced dome.”
(WPCNR advises readers the fire from the jet fuel released in the crashes could not be extinguished, causing the interior steel supports of the towers to melt after approximately one hour of uncontrolled burning and heat)
Bill indicated that U.S. nuclear plants have fire-extinguishing procedures to handle such a scenario.
Could a jumbo jet penetrate the dome?
Bill said the domes (of typical Westinghouse plants) are constructed of approximately 2 to 3 feet of concrete and are lined on the interior with 1” steel plate.
“The domes are designed to withstand a 2,700 pound projectile (the size of a Volkswagon), comparable to artillery shells that penetrate bunkers. The domes are calculated to withstand the impact of a 747. They have crashed smaller planes into them in tests and they have held.”
How about the radioactive fuel dumps?
We asked if a jet fuel fire might release radiation by penetrating the fuel and igniting it. (This scenario envisioned by the recent media article was depicted by a nuclear consultant in that article)
Bill said, “the radioactive spent fuel is in a protected building itself. It is housed in a concrete-and-steel-lined protected building and under several feet of water. The spent fuel is quite separate from the domes housing the four steam generators and one reactor (typical of Westinghouse plants, Bill reports). Should the plane penetrate the spent fuel storage dump, and jet fuel ignites, the jet fuel sits on top of the water. It cannot reach the spent radioactive fuel.”
He said the scenarios of fires of many kinds are covered in the Final Safety Analysis Report, which has to be signed off by the Nuclear Regulation Commission, and the plant operator before the plant is put online. They cannot go online without it, Bill says.
As to fuel fires, “You can put out fuel fires with foam, and water in these instances. The water uses up the oxygen. I’ve done it.”
Expert chides uninformed media article
Asked about the hypothesis generated by the article, Bill’s reaction was “The article comes within 3 degrees of yellow journalism. This person has done major damage with this. Why didn’t he call the utility?”
It should be noted that WPCNR has been unable to confirm Bill’s generalized comments about Westinghouse manufactured plants, and Bill believes Indian Point 2 and 3 are Westinghouse plants.
However, Bill has been responsible for the construction and commissioning of nuclear plants and should know his stuff. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction specifications are required in all American nuclear plants.
