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Simulation Fukushima Reactor 4-like Meltdown in a U.S. Nuclear Power Plant
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Simulation Fukushima Reactor 4-like Meltdown in a U.S. Nuclear Power Plant
Thu, 2011-06-23 09:08 — mdmcdonaldIt has been proposed that there should be a serious game simulation of a Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant reactor 4-like accident in a U.S. power plant to test the U.S. public's preparedness and ability to utilize social media and government risk communication messaging to reduce health and human security concerns around U.S. nuclear plants. Many U.S. power plants, often close to major U.S. population centers like New York City and Omaha, Nebraska, share Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power vulnerability of storing spent fuel rods on site. The U.S. has not prepared the American public in projected plume areas for sheltering in place and evacuations that would dramatically reduce their risk in a Fukushima-like accident.
This week's loss of power during flooding at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant, near Omaha, Nebraska demonstrates that this problem is not theoretical. Although power was only cut to the plant for 90 minutes, if the power shortage had continued for over 28 hours or so, a catastrophic meltdown could have threatened Omaha, Nebraska with high-levels of radiation.
The question emerges again, if a simulated nuclear accident serious game should be run based upon a simulation running on top of the NLE 11's New Madrid fault earthquake scenario. There are 10 nuclear power plants in the New Madrid area that store their spent fuel rods on site in the Central U.S. in a manner similar to Fukushim Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which continues to spread radiation in the water, soil, and air in Japan and beyond.
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