#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: GE Mark 1 Reactor Design Flaw?

Of 6 reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, at least 2 of them use GE's Mark 1 reactor (reactors No.1, 2). (I haven't found out whether the reactor made by Toshiba (reactors No.3, 5) and Hitachi (reactor No.4) are still based on GE's Mark 1. The reactor No.6 is GE's Mark 2.

From Nuclear Information and Resource Services March 1996 article by Mark Gunther [emphasis added]:

HAZARDS OF BOILING WATER REACTORS IN THE UNITED STATES

....But even basic questions about the the GE containment design remain unanswered and its integrity in serious doubt. For example, eighteen of these BWRs use a smaller GE Mark I pressure suppression containment conceived as a cost-saving alternative to the larger reinforced concrete containments marketed by competitors.

....However, as early as 1972, Dr. Stephen Hanuaer, an Atomic Energy Commission safety official, recommended that the pressure suppression system be discontinued and any further designs not be accepted for construction permits. Shortly thereafter, three General Electric nuclear engineers publicly resigned their prestigious positions citing dangerous shortcomings in the GE design.

....An NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] analysis of the potential failure of the Mark I under accident conditions concluded in a 1985 report that Mark I failure within the first few hours following core melt would appear rather likely."

....In 1986, Harold Denton, then the NRC's top safety official, told an industry trade group that the "Mark I containment, especially being smaller with lower design pressure, in spite of the suppression pool, if you look at the WASH 1400 safety study, you'll find something like a 90% probability of that containment failing."

Read the entire article at the link.

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