Part Four of Four Parts (Please read Parts One, Two and Three first)
12) Too much or too little water: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been criticizing the flood prevention measures of twenty old U.S. power reactors similar to the ones that melted down at Fukushima. Each reactor is downstream from a dam. If there was a break or major leak in the upstream dam, the reactor would be in danger of flooding. There is a major sink hole forming under one of the dams that has authorities worried.
Some major rivers in the U.S. and other parts of the world are no longer flowing into the ocean. Human use has drained all the water out before the rivers reach the coast. Levels of major lakes and reservoirs such as Lake Mead are dropping to historical low levels. It takes enormous amounts of water to cool a nuclear power reactor. Some power reactors may have to be shutdown if their source of water drops too low. The shut downs will be permanent if the water level is not restored.
13) Regulatory agencies are not competent or honest. Some of the national nuclear regulatory agencies in nuclear nations have an impossible task of simultaneously regulating and promoting nuclear energy generation. There have been charges that the U.S. NRC has been failing to enforce regulations on the operators of U.S. nuclear power reactors. In one case, the agency was accused of changing the rules with respect to earthquake reinforcement so that a nuclear power plant would qualify as being prepared. If there is a quake similar to previous quakes in that area, that plant may be seriously damaged.
14) Corporations are incompetent or deliberately negligent: There are many examples of the owners of nuclear power reactors failing to follow national nuclear regulation. There are cases of lack of training of staff, shoddy construction methods, failing to report or openly lying about problems, failure to replace worn parts, purchase of uncertified parts, etc. It has been established that TEPCO, the owners of the Fukushima power plant that had reactors melt down in 2011 were aware of the dangers of a tsunami causing flooding three years before the disaster but they did not report the danger until the week of the disaster. They ignored calls from the Japanese regulators to move a backup generator that was destroyed in the disaster. Since the disaster they have repeatedly failed to deal with contaminated water on the site and have lied about the release of radiation from the accident. Corporation that own and operate nuclear power reactors are a public threat when they place profits before safety.
15) Organized crime is involved in nuclear industry. In Japan, the Yakuza crime organizations have been deeply involved in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. They have provided much of the staffing for Japanese power plants even though some of the staffing they have provided is inadequately trained. In Italy, the Mafia controls much of the garbage and waste disposal for large areas and their work has included illegally disposing of spent nuclear fuel from European nuclear power plants. The involvement of organized crime in the operation of nuclear power plants and spent nuclear fuel disposal is totally uncontrolled and a threat to public safety.
