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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday January 17 2017, @07:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the taking-hot-springs-to-the-next-level dept.

Friday, March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by the largest earthquake ever to strike its shores. The 9.1 magnitude quake triggered a devastating tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people. It also took out the back-up emergency generators that cooled the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex, causing a series of catastrophic meltdowns.

But amid the chaos, the Yanaizu-Nishiyama geothermal power plant in Fukushima prefecture didn't miss a beat. Along with two more of the nine geothermal power plants in the region, the 65-megawatt facility continued to generate power, even as many other power plants around them failed because of damaged equipment and transmission lines.

[...] In a country as seismically active as Japan, it was a clear signal that geothermal energy was worth investing in.

http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/1/15/14270240/geothermal-energy


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  • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday January 17 2017, @10:49AM

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Tuesday January 17 2017, @10:49AM (#454843)

    Why is geothermal resistant to earthquakes? The technology is essentially the same as any other plan, i.e. a big turbine and a cooling water circuit. If anything it is more sensitive because the water circuit has to go km underground.

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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday January 17 2017, @01:20PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 17 2017, @01:20PM (#454870)

    It isn't, it was just luck. That's the irony of the story.

    You get some hand wavy about geothermal has to be where the heat is, so statistically not so many are 100 feet from the ocean. Meanwhile nuke operates at 10 to 100 times higher power and simply has to be coastal. Unfortunately tsunamis are also coastal.

    The luck factor is IF the geothermal had to be built right on the coast because thats where the heat is, then it would have been just as wiped out.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @01:35PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @01:35PM (#455377)

      And when the next tsunami hits, all that radioactive lava smothers the whole area !!
      No wait some water and/or steam escape, I'm sure you will notice that in the middle of a fucking tsunami and mag 9 earthquake...

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday January 17 2017, @03:05PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 17 2017, @03:05PM (#454913) Journal

    Why is geothermal resistant to earthquakes? The technology is essentially the same as any other plan, i.e. a big turbine and a cooling water circuit. If anything it is more sensitive because the water circuit has to go km underground.

    Point is nuclear requires considerable inspections before it'll be allowed back in operation. The geothermal plant can just keep running.