nuclear power in dawn...

[Mike70]

after watching the history channel show "life after people" i wonder if anyone else picked up on the fact that a nuclear power plant could keep functioning for up to 2 years or more without supervision before going into safe mode. the likelihood of a meltdown is remote but once the uranium fuel got reduced to a certain level the plant would automatically go into shutdown/safe mode. 2 years is a bit of time compared to what would happen in areas that were supplied by electricity generated by fossil fuels but then again hydro power could theoretically keep running as long as the machinery was in good enough shape to keep pumping out the juice.

[sandrock74]

Good info, I didn't know that.

[SRP76]

Come on, they let Homer Simpson work in a power plant. So you know the people there aren't really vital.

[MikePizzoff]

2 years? I think that's plenty of time, given the right amount of people, to figure out (learn) how to maintain the place every now and then. Who knows, you might be able to keep it going for a decent amount of time.

[Danny]

actually life after people said the nuclear plant would last 2 years, but without any power being consumed it would go into safe mode and shut down in less than 2 days, though the hoover damn would provide the south west with power for as long as it could go without the intake pipes being clogged with those muscle type creatures.

[Legion2213]

actually life after people said the nuclear plant would last 2 years, but without any power being consumed it would go into safe mode and shut down in less than 2 days, though the hoover damn would provide the south west with power for as long as it could go without the intake pipes being clogged with those muscle type creatures. What he said. Looks like all our 'merican posters are headed to the Hoover Dam area when zombiegeddon breaks out. "power's still on, must be hydro..."

[Danny]

hey if that place can keep supplying power if you just clean the pipes and lasts for 10,000 years then yeha, might not be a bad idea

[Trin]

The problem with Hoover dam is it would quickly get clogged by all the zombies trying to walk under water across Lake Mead. Oh, wait... zombies have no problem walking under water in spite of the current.

[bassman]

The problem with Hoover dam is it would quickly get clogged by all the zombies trying to walk under water across Lake Mead. Oh, wait... zombies have no problem walking under water in spite of the current. And I always read that the people that aren't too fond of Dawn04 are constantly taking stabs at it.

[Mike70]

actually life after people said the nuclear plant would last 2 years, but without any power being consumed it would go into safe mode and shut down in less than 2 days, though the hoover damn would provide the south west with power for as long as it could go without the intake pipes being clogged with those muscle type creatures. just rewatched the part of this about the nuke plants. you're right i misheard this. but i am trying to translate this to the scenario in dawn and i think that power and quite a bit of it would still be being pulled from the plant because of things that run either automatically/on timers (like streetlights, lights in bldgs, malls, etc) and due to the fact that i don't think that people fleeing from zombie hordes are gonna think "wait, i need to go back. i forgot to turn off the lights." i think that in that sort of scenario there would probably be lots of things left running in homes (lights, tvs, radios, computers (in our era of course not the original dawn), air conditioners (if it is summer) that would continue to pull a serious amount of juice from the grid.

[Staredge]

Yeah, but the problem is how long would the infrastructure last? Making power is only half of the battle. The other half is getting it to your lightbulb.

[axlish]

After watching Life After People, I would opt to move to the Hoover Dam, grab a small militia, arm ourselves to the teeth, and use the political power vacuum to take over the world. During dead times, we could have Halo tournaments.

[hadrian0117]

Dawn of the Dead starts just 3 weeks into the outbreak and ends a few months later. It's possible that the power plants aren't even abandoned. World War Z mentions in passing how the government placed small custodial teams at power plants just to maintain the infrastucture.

[Mike70]

Yeah, but the problem is how long would the infrastructure last? Making power is only half of the battle. The other half is getting it to your lightbulb. i don't think that two years is a long time for infrastructure to hold together. unless some freak storm knocks down lines, i would think that lasting for 2 years would be in the realm of high probability.

[MoonSylver]

The problem, as I understood it, was that the fossil burning plants would run out of fuel with in HOURS to a DAY, with no one to fuel them. The demand for power vs the supply causes a cascade effect across the grids, causing them to blow out/shut down, which in turn after the 2 wk time frame cause to nuke plants to shut down in safe mode. The bottom line? with out anyone to man the plants (which when it hits the fan I would assume most workers are gonna bail due to family &/or heading for the high ground) the lights aren't gonna stay on as long as we thought...