Nuclear Power Plant visit
January 26. Class Session 3. Visit to PSE&G Nuclear Power Plant in Salem, NJ. (1 pm Bus to Leave Penn). nuclear power plants, like many other High Reliability organizations (HROs) have extraordinarily good safety records. They've done it, in part, by transitioning from contingency planning, i.e. developing protocols for every conceivable scenario to developing generalized skills of preparedness and rapid response (resilience).
What to do if a Nuclear Disaster is Imminent:
Should We Be Using Nuclear Power?
That nuclear power plants, like many other high reliability organizations are on the leading edge of crisis preparation, doesn't mean that nuclear power is safe, or wise: Are we risking too much to feed an ever increasing apetite for energy or should we try to reign in that apetite?
Normal Accident Theory: Accidents are inevitable, a part of life. If the potential consequences of a technology are too dangerous, we simply should not use it.
Nuclear Power in Japan: “Japan is an earthquake-prone archipelago, and lining its waterfront are 54 nuclear plants. It’s been like a suicide bomber wearing grenades around his belt,” Katsuhiko Ishibashi, professor emeritus at Kobe University. Ishibashi served on a committee setting safety guidelines for Japan’s nuclear reactors in 2005, but he resigned because he thought people weren’t heeding his warnings about the potential for a nuclear disaster. [1]
Nuclear Power in Washington State:The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is the largest nuclear waste dump in the Western Hemisphere and a major Northwest environmental issue. It is a serious long-term threat to the Columbia River, which Oregon depends on for power generation, farm irrigation, fishing, transport and recreation: http://www.hanfordwatch.org/ (See Dave Barry on Concerns about Radioactive Insects found at the Hanford Nuclear Complex.)
Notes:
- 1] "For battered Japan, a new threat: nuclear meltdown" By ERIC TALMADGE and YURI KAGEYAMA. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/12/2721477/for-battered-japan-a-new-threat.html