If there were no nuclear reactor staff, would there be more Chernobyl-type accidents?
Not necessarily. The Chernobyl accident was caused by staff overriding automatic fail-safe mechanisms to conduct a risky experiment; because of a design fault in the control rods, this led to the explosion. Improved mechanisms render modern reactors extremely safe. Toshiba has a design, currently awaiting US approval, for an almost entirely automated 10MW reactor that could run for 30 years without being refuelled. The first one is proposed for the town of Galena, Alaska for 2012 or 2013.
In this month’s Focus, how really, really small stuff can help us answer the Universe’s biggest mysteries PLUS Intelligent animals, the science of perfume, the next generation of smartphones and more
Focus interviews three guys who edit Wikipedia articles in their spare time.
Back to the Ocean
M Paul Lloyd
Feb 11th, '12, 00:03
Q & A- Antarctic lake success 'uncertain'
M Paul Lloyd
Feb 10th, '12, 23:59
News & Links - Science versus Religion
Doonhamer
Feb 10th, '12, 23:48
General Discussion, the Grey Area - Global Extinction: Gradual Doom Is Just as Ba...
M Paul Lloyd
Feb 10th, '12, 18:57
News & Links - Global Warming, Climate Change, The Environme...
Shadowwolf
Feb 10th, '12, 16:09
General Discussion, the Grey Area - Mars an Unlikely Place for Life After 600-Mil...
Shadowwolf
Feb 10th, '12, 16:01
News & Links - Milky Way's Black Hole Grazing on Asteroids
Shadowwolf
Feb 9th, '12, 00:27
Astronomy Discussion - Forum meeting
Nails
Feb 7th, '12, 21:40
Q & A - Back To The Future 2 disappointment
M Paul Lloyd
Feb 7th, '12, 18:24
Science Fact Versus Science Fiction - Could you survive a tsunami by diving underwa...
Jorge
Feb 6th, '12, 14:05
Q & A
- @Prawny2004 Pray, share your thoughts with us! — 8 hours 9 min ago
- Would you donate your body to medical research? http://t.co/81N6wIsn — 8 hours 14 min ago
- Any more thoughts today on how intelligent animals can get? Reply with @sciencefocus and you could end up in the mag! — 10 hours 20 min ago
RE
Computers are immune to human error but all electronics can suffer from crashing; mistakes in the programming; as this would be a complicated programme to run some crucial details could easily be overlooked. For this reason I think the computer programme should be rigorously tested in a simulation before it can be used for generating electricity with a reactor being constantly monitored by technicians.