Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Wall Street Journal: "Here Comes the Sun Storm"


by Ryan Tracy May 15, 2012 p. A3

Byline: "Electric Grid is Vulnerable to a Big Solar Blow: Officials Spar Over What to Do"

Majia Here: The article explains that the sun is expected to hit a peak in eruption activity in 2013.

I've posted on this previously http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/2013-solar-maximum.html

NASA recently warned of upcoming increased solar activity
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/04jun_swef/

The Wall Street Journal article "Here Comes the Sun Storm" quotes John Kappenman, "a consultant and former power engineer who has spent decades researching the storms." Kappenman warns that our electrical grids are not hardened against electrical surges caused by solar activity.

Kappenman is quoted in the article as stating: "This is arguably the largest natural-disaster scenario that the nation could face."

[The WSJ notes that he consults with private companies that make equipment aimed at protecting the grid.]

The article provides some background on the largest solar storms ever recorded with semi-modern equipment in 1859 and 1921.

The article NEGLECTS to address the effects of a prolonged power outage on the nation's nuclear power plants.

In this video, nuclear engineers Mr Arnie Gunderson and David Lochbaum discuss how vulnerable nuclear power plants are to electrical disruptions. Their analysis even addresses the many vulnerabilities of the "back-up" generators
http://fairewinds.com/content/why-fukushima-can-happen-here-what-nrc-and-nuclear-industry-dont-want-you-know

Here is a discussion of solar storm effects on nuclear plants:
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mragheb/www/NPRE%20402%20ME%20405%20Nuclear%20Power%20Engineering/Solar%20Storms%20Effects%20on%20Nuclear%20and%20Electrical%20Installations.pdf http://enenews.com/solar-storms-threaten-nuke-plants-power-outages-could-last-years-decades-risk-significantly-outweighs-major-earthquakes/comment-page-1#comment-116729

I posted a discussion in 2011 about the dangers of nuclear plants and solar storms using the references (and acknowledging the sources) I've pasted above
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/solar-flares-and-nuclear-plants-not.html

The existence of a cryptic video by NASA's  head warning employees to prepare for some inexplicable emergency raises questions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnq8vHHoDpo

Does NASA know something we don't?

Having read up on this subject it is very clear to me that humanity would not survive a prolonged outage because every nuclear plant and spent fuel pool impacted by extended power outages would ultimately be compromised and burn/melt-down.

Preppers hope to "survive" an apocalypse caused by an extended power outage. However, the fact of the matter is that so much radiation would be produced that we would not have a chance of surviving unless we could escape into very deep bunkers that we would have to live within for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Acknowledgement: Thanks Craig for appraising me of this situation.




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