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A comment on Russian plutonium-fueled breeder reactor reaches first criticality (2014). Parent comment

Re:Russian plutonium-fueled breeder reactor reaches first cr... by Zigurd on Wednesday August 12, 2015 @05:54PM (#10050912)
> It's only poor engineering...

Poor policy, really. We should not be extending the operation of old plants.

The engineering is relatively poor based on what we now know about building and siting nuclear plants, but it was state of the art at the time.

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Re:Russian plutonium-fueled breeder reactor reaches first cr... by mikeash on Wednesday August 12, 2015 @06:08PM (#10051030)
I don't think putting the emergency generators for a flood-prone site in the basement can be considered wise even given the knowledge of the time.
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Re:Russian plutonium-fueled breeder reactor reaches first cr... by tsotha on Wednesday August 12, 2015 @06:25PM (#10051151)
GE reactor plans called for the batteries and generators to be in the basement, and TEPCO decided not to deviate from the plans because they were worried any changes could introduce subtle failure modes.
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