Jokodo
Veteran Member
What's the typical size of a skeleton crew required to maintain operation and deal with plausible unexpected circumstances without outside intervention, say per GW of output for a limited amount of time?
For how long would such a skeleton crew typically be able to maintain operation independently?
Say for a nuclear power plant, how many staff is required for operation, and how long would the fuel on site typically last? Same for coal power, hydro (minus "fuel on site"), biomass (presumably worst for manpower), etc.
I've had a discussion with someone elsewhere who was voicing the opinion that in this Year of Pestilence (or more precisely: if we were ever to be hit by another pandemic with higher fatality rate), nuclear reactors become an unforseeable risk if/when they run out of operators as they fall sick one after the other. I countered that, on the other hand, since they need less manpower to maintain operation than pretty any other energy source, it becomes much more feasible to send a skeleton crew into isolation before the outbreak hits hard, to ensure operation - which I'm sure is already happening all around the world.
I don't actually have numbers to back this up or make it more specific. Does anyone?
For how long would such a skeleton crew typically be able to maintain operation independently?
Say for a nuclear power plant, how many staff is required for operation, and how long would the fuel on site typically last? Same for coal power, hydro (minus "fuel on site"), biomass (presumably worst for manpower), etc.
I've had a discussion with someone elsewhere who was voicing the opinion that in this Year of Pestilence (or more precisely: if we were ever to be hit by another pandemic with higher fatality rate), nuclear reactors become an unforseeable risk if/when they run out of operators as they fall sick one after the other. I countered that, on the other hand, since they need less manpower to maintain operation than pretty any other energy source, it becomes much more feasible to send a skeleton crew into isolation before the outbreak hits hard, to ensure operation - which I'm sure is already happening all around the world.
I don't actually have numbers to back this up or make it more specific. Does anyone?