CG0905_NuclearPlants

Process Controls Prevent Nuclear Disasters

Sept. 11, 2009
A Six Part Series Describing How Process Controls Could Have Prevented Past Nuclear Accidents and Could Improve the Safety of the Nuclear Power Industry

By Béla Lipták, PE, Columnist

1. Nuclear Plant Security and Cyber Terrorism
How To Improve Nuclear Power Plant Security.
This article talks about cyber terrorism and how process control can protect nuclear power plants or the chemical industry against it.

2. Nuclear Security, Part II—Fission Basics
The Overall Topic of the Nuclear Power Plant Operation and the Use of Process.
This article discusses the overall topic of the nuclear power plant operation and the use of process control to protect against nuclear accidents. It also describes the process and the reasons why some of the 100 accidents occurred in the past.

3. The Future of Nuclear Energy
If Global Carbon Emissions Were Cut by 15% by 2050 by the Increased Use of Nuclear Power, 1,070 Plants Would Need to Be Built at a Cost of $5 Trillion.
This article focusses on the present and future trends in this industry and on the role which process control should play in making it safer.

4. What Caused the Three Mile Island Accident?
In this article, Liptak describes the sequence of events and the primitive controls that led to the Three Mile Island accident and how proper design could have prevented it. The bottom line is that one can only control a process if one understands it, and that throwing money at it is no solution.

5. Chernobyl Did Not Need To Occur
Good Process Control Could Have Prevented this Historic Meltdown

6. Process Control's Role in Nuclear Waste Handling
Liptak Talks about the Role of Process Control in Nuclear Safety and How It Can Plays in Reducing the Risks Associated with the Transportation and Storage of Nuclear Wastes