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Originally Posted by Sangetsu
Another thing not mentioned about the Fukushima plant is that the earthquake and tsunami were both greater than the design standards set by the government, meaning that the plant was not designed to withstand either the quake or the tsunami. That the plant was damaged is not the fault of the workers, plant operators, or it's builders. The government standards of the time never considered the possibility of a quake of this magnitude, as none this large had occurred in memorable history. That the plant was damaged is not surprising, what is surprising is that the damage wan't worse.
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Actually, that is a misconception. Earthquakes of that size had happened in the past, and the possibility of another was considered very real. The building standards reflect that. It was built to withstand an 8. A DIRECT 8.
It was actually hit with less than a 7. Sure, the epicenter was a 9, but the plant isn`t standing on the epicenter.
This is fueling the misconception that the plant was not built to withstand a quake of the size that hit it. People have a tendency to forget that the epicenter number isn`t always the same as what hits populated areas. I believe even the very worst hit places only got a 7 in terms of shaking.
As the plant was built to withstand an 8, and was hit by a 6.8(? vague recollection here) there was very little earthquake damage sustained to the facilities. The damage that did occur can be easily explained by the simple fact that while the building was built to withstand an 8, it was also only built to run 25 or 30 years - but had been extended to 40+.
In the end, it was the tsunami. That was what they had not planned for. They built a huge wall, but it wasn`t quite high enough.
Everything that has happened is a result of the problems caused by the plant being flooded and having stuff washed away...
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Current operating plants will have to be upgraded to higher standards, and perhaps the reactors should be upgraded to the newer designs which use natural convection to circulate coolant and do not depend on separate pump systems.
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But unfortunately, this is going to push everyone in the direction of avoiding nuclear plants at all costs... Forcing the extended use of old plants because they can`t get permission to build new, nor can they find a way to fill the gap in electricity supply that would be made if they shut the plants down temporarily to upgrade them. It`s like a sad circle of doom.