this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
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When a naval reactor fails it gets submerged in water. When an inland reactor fails it either gets submerged in water or the area potentially becomes uninhabited for generations. It's really all about access to water. Even an island nation like Japan has had trouble keeping nuclear reactors full of water in the past, e.g. Fukushima.
Er, wasn't the problem at Fukushima caused by the plant being full of water?
The isolation condenser (IC) was functioning prior to the tsunami, but the DC-operated control valve outside of the primary containment had been in the closed position at the time to prevent thermal stresses on the reactor components. Some indications in the control room stopped functioning and operators correctly assumed loss of coolant (LOC). At 18:18 on 11 March, a few hours after the tsunami, operators attempted to manually open the IC control valve, but the IC failed to function, suggesting that the isolation valves were closed. Although they were kept open during IC operation, the loss of DC power in unit 1 (which occurred shortly before the loss of AC power) automatically closed the AC-powered isolation valves to prevent uncontrolled cooling or a potential LOC. Although this status was unknown to the plant operators, they correctly interpreted the loss of function in the IC system and manually closed the control valves. The plant operators would continue to periodically attempt to restart the IC in the following hours and days, but it did not function.
Interestingly, seawater corrosion can actually cause criticality for nuclear reactors instead of preventing it.
And? So what? There are 9 sunken nuclear submarines on the ocean floor, about 700 Nuclear vessels have sailed since the 1950s and about 200 are current.
They generate a little heat but thats about it. The water shields the outside world from wide spreading bursts of radiation.
Did you read the article? Once seawater enters the reactor, corrosion might affect the control rods to the point where the whole thing might spiral into criticality, maybe to the point of the reactor exploding. It's just a bit of heat for 50 to 100 years until it suddenly might become an atom bomb.
9 of them
Very constructive.
We've also set off hydrogen bombs on the surface of the ocean several times.
Now do me a favour and take a look at where those 9 subs are lying around and tell me it's just as far away from inhabited areas.
Spoiler: it's not.
Kind of means fuck all when they can't produce enough power to remove the literal seas between them.