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| | THE FEARSOME REACTOR MELTDOWN ACCIDENT |
 | | The RSS estimates that a reactor meltdown may be expected about once every 20,000 years of reactor operation; that is, if there were 100 reactors, there would be a meltdown once in 200 years. |
 | | In 1 out of 5 meltdowns there would be over 1,000 deaths, in 1 out of 100 there would be over 10,000 deaths, and in 1 out of 100,000 meltdowns, we would approach 50,000 deaths (the number we get each year from motor vehicle accidents). |
 | | In most meltdowns, the cost would be less than $50 million (all costs are in 1975 dollars); in 1 out of 10 meltdowns, it would exceed $300 million; in 1 out of 100 meltdowns, it would exceed $2 billion; and once in 10,000 meltdowns, it would be as much as $15 billion. |
| www.phyast.pitt.edu /~blc/book/chapter6.html (12875 words) |
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