NO INDIVIDUAL KNOWS THE FUTURE (EDITED AND AMENDED 3/23, 4/20, 4/22, 6/16, 7/25, 7/26, 8/30 9/30/2014)!

Introduction:

On the morning of March 28, 1979, no one expected the events that unfolded at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, in Pennsylvania. The developments that occurred at that Babcock and Wilcock (B & W) designed plant were not supposed to happen and in any event, it was taken for granted that if a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) type event occurred, that with the redundant systems in place everything would fall into a logical sequence and a shutdown (or plant SCRAM) would occur as expected, but it did not. This description examines developments from the perspective of unexpected occurrences, please follow.

Here are Some Developments to Consider:

On the date previously referenced, at that Harrisburg, PA plant one of the two nuclear reactors lost its coolant, which in turn caused the radioactive fuel to overheat and caused a partial plant meltdown and the release of some radioactive material. There was NO contributing natural disaster that led to this development, which had been examined from many perspectives. The cause turned out to be the ignorance on the part of the Operators about Plant operations due to being provided with faulty information. One would think and take it for granted that if a complex structure such as nuclear plant was being designed that a scenario as likely (or unlikely) as an unanticipated accident would have been thoroughly planned for, but it was not. As a result, Operators were caught completely in the dark as the instrumentation’s signals could not be relied on (as the follow-up investigation afterwards revealed), and a desperate trial and error scenario ensued, namely being at the controls of “an out-of-control nuclear plant.” This was NOT supposed to happen. If for a minute, one can attempt to trade places with those Operators, being responsible for the safe operation of a nuclear plant, in “an out-of-control” mode, with no idea what was the best course of action, how would you handle it? The state of the Industry has come a long way in many ways since the Three Mile Accident, with the implementation of Equipment Qualification Regulations, 10CFR50.49 (for, which I was hired to address at the DAEC - see the Footnote in the post A BADLY SCRIPTED DRAMA UPDATED AND AMENDED for a discussion about the type of event that are the focus of these Regulations) and Reg. Guide 1.97 etc., designed to ensure the safe operation of plants under postulated accident conditions consistent the intent of Title 10 of the Code of Federal regulations (CFR) as documented in the Footnote of the post WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GEESE IS ALSO GOOD FOR THE WIRELESS "CARNDERS" - EDITED/UPATED AND AMENDED, were intended to address. However, the availability of these Regulations and Guidelines do not in themselves ensure that strict adherence will be followed in the name of cost savings at all times by those "players" who consider such occurrences remote and best and are not really concerned with such when affixing their "signatures" to plant documentation. It is under these circumstances that the implications of the events surrounding the scenario documented in the Footnote from the post A BADLY SCRIPTED DRAMA UPDATED AND AMENDED have real meaningful significance for those who understand the gravity of these developments, which the details documented in bulleted item # 4 below greatly underscore.
Fortunately, in Three Mile Island's trial and error situation, loss of life did not occur but this was not the case in the Chernobyl accident near Kiev in the former USSR on April 26, 1986 and lives were lost and consequences that are still being assessed.

The implications and Observations to be Considered From These Circumstances:
Such events are not isolated to the nuclear industry as the disaster at the then Union Carbide chemical plant at Bhopal, India on December 7, 1984 reminds us, where the toxic gas released claimed the lives of over 2000 and injured nearly 150,000. In addition, if an examination of only random events were considered, the 1995, July 12-17 heat wave in the Midwest in an advance nation as the U.S. where over 800 lives were lost due to the heat with 560 being in Chicago, IL alone. Furthermore these events can occur in any nation as the passenger train accident in Germany on June 3, 1998 reminds us, where approximately 98 deaths occurred, with the probable cause likely being a defective wheel. If disasters could be predicted, most likely they would be avoided but in spite of best laid plans they do occur as history has clearly shown either due to ineffective planning or failure to heed warnings given. Even in our personal lives, if time is taken to carefully examine developments that took place quite unexpectedly (not including manipulations by those who attempt to play "god" in the lives of others - see the post THOSE WHO WOULD BE god - EDITED/UPDATED AND AMENDED); but real “stop signs” that had they been heeded would have altered the events in our lives completely.

Conclusion:
If we are honest with ourselves more often than not, we make bad choices with terrible consequences, if we would only learn from history or the mistakes of others that:

1. dictators ALWAYS end up in the same manner (see the post ONE CASUALTY OF THE RECENT FINANCIAL CRISIS - TOO BIG TO FAIL,
2. relationships with certain types of individuals always end badly,
3. entering business associations with those about whom warnings have been given are not to be ignored and
4. any design is as good as its most critical link, (therefore if planning a $1 billion plant activity etc., and the plans exclude something as minute as faulty cables, and failure to follow procedures to enable unreviewed safety issues to be revealed (through intended defense-in-depth mechanisms), then your plans are doom to failure no matter how attractive they appear on paper).

In the end, it can only be said that on occasion, no matter how prepared for life’s extended scenarios we may think we are, all the best laid plans can be thrown into chaos if the most minute detail is overlooked and disaster ends up at our doorstep. However, when it comes to His chosen, ALL events are part of God's will for their lives as He ALONE knows the future, even if they don't recognize His leading and even when others attempt to manipulate their lives without knowing that One is still in control of the events in their lives when such developments are taking place. God does order the events in the lives of His (chosen) as documented in the post THE EVENTS IN THE LIVES OF GOD'S CHOSEN ARE ORDERED - UPDATED to bring about what He intended even when such (for example), had given up hope that a partner meeting the unique qualities that she desired could or would be found. In His unique way, He would place such an individual right within your reach (even when unaware of such details), and make you aware only at the appropriate time because HE ALONE KNOWS WHO ARE HIS, (taking into consideration the implication of the details included in the amended post AMENDMENT TO THE EVENTS IN THE LIVES OF GOD'S CHOSEN ARE ORDERED - UPDATED), and none can alter that regardless of how well coordinated their attempted identity switching scams are, because the God of creation (or One) is not fooled by such as documented in the "With the ability of the “shadowy consuming force”..." paragraph in Footnote2 of the post WHAT LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNED FROM THE RECENT FINANCIAL CRISIS - UPDATED AND AMENDED.