Homestead mailing list

[Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

At 6/1/2005, you wrote:
> Three Mile Island was a case of honest error.  A manual valve on a coolant 
> line had been closed for preventive maintenance then the maintenance tech 
> didn't reopen it when he was finished.  When the temp suddenly soared 
> above the safe line, and the reactor didn't blow-up, the operators thought 
> the temp gauge was faulty. Nope, the physics was.  There is much about the 
> operation of a nuclear reactor that still relies on theory.  (To test the 
> theory is not wise)  The biggest danger with a Nuke plant is human error 
> and human stupidity.

The valve was covered by a paper tag so was not visible.  There is no way 
to make a system fool proof and the greater the cost of an error the more 
important the safe guards.  The more safeguards, the greater chance of an 
error.  Coupled with the extreme cost, nuclear is not a real option.


> What happened with the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority?  I thought the TVA 
> was an a successful array of hydroelectric dams.

TVA like Woops has some dry ho;es of its own and are wanting federal money 
to bail them out.

Don Bowen                          Awl Knotted Up

My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

My present location is the star on the map in the link below
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=33.506083&longitude=-117.099019