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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
Tien-Ko Wang, Jun Hsin, Min Lee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 91 | Number 3 | September 1990 | Pages 287-296
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34453
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of MAAP3.0 calculations was made with varying parameters to simulate a postulated large-break loss-of-coolant accident at the Kuosheng plant with a boiling water reactor-6 and MARK III containment. Analyses showed that uncertainties in the corematerial eutectic temperature and the degree of flow blockage will result in a large uncertainty in the predicted in-vessel hydrogen generation. The pressure variations caused by hydrogen burns, which are related to the preceding in- and ex-vessel hydrogen generation, may force some suppression-pool water into the pedestal cavity where most of the corium remains. This will further affect the possibility and the extent of corium/concrete interactions and thus the rate and the amount of ex-vessel hydrogen generation. Burns would occur at a very low hydrogen concentration if the compartment (gas) temperature were high and the flame temperature criteria were used for burn determination. If burns were to occur after containment failure, the hydrogen burns could have a significant impact on the release of fission product to the environment.