Word: reactors
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President Carter, having once helped disassemble a damaged nuclear reactor core, apparently has no doubts about the effectiveness and necessity of nuclear power. But last Sunday's demonstration reminded him of the antinuclear movement's possible political strength. Although he had declined an invitation to speak at the rally, he afterward invited the organizers to a quickly called meeting at the White House. "It is out of the question to pre-emptively shut all nuclear plants in the country," he told them, but he did say he would like to "minimize the requirement for nuclear power...
More than a month after the nation's worst nuclear accident, at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor, the lessons and the consequences continued to be explored. Items...
...that day there was also a small fire or explosion of hydrogen gas, created when the reactor's high temperatures disassociated the cooling water's molecules. But the NRC team did not learn of it until two days later, the investigators disclosed, because of another snafu: harried by what one official called the "hassle factor," controllers had apparently rolled up a crucial recorder sheet at the height of the accident, thereby inadvertently concealing key information...
...admitted that it may have overestimated the seriousness of the large hydrogen bubble that formed in the reactor vessel. Despite that small explosion, investigators now believe there was never any danger of a bigger blast, which could have ruptured the reactor vessel and containment building, spreading deadly radiation. The false alarm was caused by incorrect speculation about free oxygen in the vessel...
...Senate committee, which called for a $400,000 study of the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania, also approved a proposal that requires the NRC to draft legislation giving the government sole authority to operate a reactor during an emergency...