But it took “numerous extraordinary actions” to prevent bad stuff from happening with spent fuel at Fukushima-Daiichi until “the alternative cooling system could be installed.” (p. 140). Even with additional safeguards, they seem fairly dependent on power to operate active cooling systems. I think it’s fair to doubt that similar extraordinary actions could be undertaken and sustained if most of the spent fuel pods in the world were experiencing similar situations during a time that the grid was down across much of the world.
But it took “numerous extraordinary actions” to prevent bad stuff from happening with spent fuel at Fukushima-Daiichi until “the alternative cooling system could be installed.” (p. 140). Even with additional safeguards, they seem fairly dependent on power to operate active cooling systems. I think it’s fair to doubt that similar extraordinary actions could be undertaken and sustained if most of the spent fuel pods in the world were experiencing similar situations during a time that the grid was down across much of the world.