A friend of mine has stated that it takes at least four months to safely shut down a nuclear power plant. It seems to me that this issue has come up before, but the thread is long gone.

-- Sandmann (Sandmann@alasbab.com), July 08, 1999

Answers

How long does a nuclear power plant require an outside source of energy after it has gone through a cold shutdown?

Source: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch- msg.tcl?msg_id=000GO8

Critt

-- Critt Jarvis (middleground@critt.com), July 08, 1999.

After checking out Gary North's Website this morning and viewing the list of nuke plant's that aren't compliant, I see Clinton, IL on this list, (20 minutes from my home in Decatur.) Can anyone tell me where I can purchase, is it Potassium iodide?

-- Marsha (MSykes@court.co.macon.il.us), July 08, 1999.

"POTASSIUM IODATE
"150 mg Tablets

"Potassium Iodate is a superior form of KI (buffered Iodine) and carried only by Medical Corps. Each factory sealed bottle contains 100 fresh tablets of Potassium Iodate 150mg.

"The shelf life of Potassium Iodate is exceptional and should last a generation. Because of the extra molecule of oxygen in Iodate, Medical Corps can guarantee Iodate's stability without adding stabilizers.

"Medical Corps recommends that each family member should have at least one bottle in their emergency kit. KI is the only known chemical available on the market which will shield (or block) the Thyroid and prevent it from absorbinb radioactive Iodine.

"Unlike other blockers, Medical Corps' stock is NOT government surplus 130 mg tablets. It is also chewable and especially recommended for children because our youngsters are extremely susceptible to thyroid cancer after exposure to radioactive contamination.

"Remember, be it a spill, accident, war or terrorism, Potassium Iodate is the only chemical which will protect you and your children. For those who are interested, it can be used for your pets also.

"1 Bottle = 100 150mg pills.
"Use during a Nuclear Emergency ONLY
* For the first 14 days take 1 tablet twice a day. This is a total of 2 tablets per day.
* For the next 76 days take 1 tablet per day.

"Potassium Iodate 150mg is a superior form of "KI" because of its extended shelf life and lack of bitter taste. The extra molecule of oxygen in Potassium Iodate 150mg (actually K103), can guarantee the Iodate's continued freshness without adding stabilizers. Keep the bottle sealed, dry, and out of sunlight. It should remain stable for a generation.

"Why should it be used?
"During a Nuclear Disaster, such as War, Terrorism, a MeltDown or Spill, great amounts of Radioactive Iodine-131 are often released. Even though I-131 is radioactive, it is still Iodine ... and Iodine is what the Thyroid requires to operate correctly. The Thyroid does not know the difference between "good" iodine and "bad" iodine and will readily absorb Radioactive 131 if allowed to. What must be done in case of a nuclear accident is to SATURATE the Thyroid with the good Iodine so that the bad iodine cannot do irreparable damage. The blocking must be done on a daily basis at least 12 hours BEFORE the nuclear emergency starts and it must be continued for at least 80 days.

[ Get Potassium Iodide too, to take if you don't have "advance notice" for the first 5 days ]

Medical Corp

"Medical Corps is an organization of retired United States Armed Forces personnel united to bring to the citizenry of the nation education and training in survival and emergency medical techniques.

"Ralph Charles "Chuck" Fenwick is the founder and chief administrator of Medical Corp.

Address label on bottle:
"Medical Corps
45161 State Route 821
Caldwell, OH 43724

"New Important Information
[ the guy said for the last year, and the military is switching over to Postassium Iodate. He told us some info that we KNOW is not true, so we're being cautious ]

"New Thyroid Blocking Power
Did anyone besides Medical Corps understand what it means to have 100 suitcase Atomic Bombs unaccounted for by the former Soviet Union? Or maybe it is just a coincidence, but the US Government has instituted an NBC crash training program for emergency medical personnel in 120 cities nation wide! Medical Corps is involved with just that sort of training and has been for two years. One of the emergency procedures being taught is the use of the Thyroid Blocker called KI. This is the only chemical which will protect a human from absorbinb Radioactive Iodine 131. Iodine 131 is deadly and is especially toxic to children.

"Medical Corps now carries a superior form of KI. In the past we have marketed Potassium Iodide 150mg. Now we can offer a new product called Potassium Iodate 150mg.

"Medical Corps is the only company which carries this superior form of KI. Potassium Iodate has an extra molecule of Oxygen which makes it more shelf stable than Iodide or Iodine. It is not as bitter as Potassium Iodide and can be chewed. Unlike the government surplus 130mg Iodide, Medical Corps chose the 150mg strength, as this will extend the thyroid blocking.

"American Family Network," website is at
http://www.americanfamilynetwork.com

Medical Corp:
http://www.medicalcorp.org

xxxxxxxxxx xxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), July 08, 1999.

We have addressed this issue before - following is repeated if you didn't see those more detailed comments, or the physics and heat transfer equations that supports these values.

__

Cooling down (operating temperature to room temperature) requires no more than 3 days; I've regularly done it in less than 3 shifts.

Once cooled, the reactor (after about 4 days) is generating roughly 0.005% of its original heat. This amount of heat does require a small cooler, unless the top of the core is opened to atmosphere in the containment - as is usually done for normal refueling outages.

If the core cover is removed, the only thing needed is to periodically add clean water. No other power is needed, though all utilities are required by law to keep two alternate sources available.

The claims that backup power generators are unreliable (these have been repeatedly spread by a MA Democratic congressman's office whose staffers hate and distruct nuclear power) are simply false. There is no other description nor excuse needed, these claims are simply wrong. Testing of these backup power supplies is also mandated in the operating license, and all plants regularly operate them.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 08, 1999.

It doesn't take as long to shut em down as you think.

The problem is they require continuous maintenance regardless.

The nukes will be kept on line at least at some fraction of their capacity. (%20? %80?) because they dont require coal and oil shipments.

Nukes and hydro are Y2K "enhanced"

-- Hunschbakk (Quasimdoe@beltwrc.com), July 08, 1999.

Well techically, sir Hunched of theBack, nuclear and hydro plants are "at the top of the food chain" - they require no outside source of anything to continue to generate power. Once any given nuclear or hydro plant has been remediated and tested, it should be able to get reliable "power to the fences."

Now, getting that power through the grid may be a different story.....they have not tested those potential failure mode yet.

Everything else requires a more or less elaborate (and thus vunerable) supply chain: the most vunerable are the natural gas fired fossil plants (essentially no reserve fuel capacity since they depend on either liquid /pressurized nat gas at the site in cryogenic tanks, or on a continuous nat gas supply through the international/national pipelines back to the individual gas wells). If, as they do in some new england harbors, import cryogenic nat gas from overseas, they are vuneable to shipping and overseas threats to the supply.

Next are oil-fired - they can store fuel, but not as much as easily for long periods as coal. Unless they build new tanks (or expand their current ones), they are equally vunerable to shipping problems in the national oil pipeline grids as the nat gas plants are to the nat gas pipelines.

Next is coalfired fossil plants - they are vunerable to coal mine/coal handling/train/barge/river blockages/locks/dams/overseas shipping transportation threats - but the basic fuel can be fairly easily stored - dirty, expensive yes, but it can be stored for a while (30-60 days of a reserve fuel target has been made by several coal plants in the past months.

____

Home and industrial threats - all equally vunerable to these same interruptions: a steel mill, cement kiln, oil/plastic/chemical refinery, or auto plant needs these same kind of supply lines to maintain its production.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 08, 1999.

Thank all of you for your help. It's especially good to hear a succinct response from a fellow Georgian, Mr. Cook.

-- Sandmann (Sandmann@alasbab.com), July 09, 1999.