Hi lesjude,
You wrote: It is licensed until 2029 when it will be 60 years old. This is safe? Or is it about something else
Well, in the realm of concrete and steel structures, 60 years isn't particularly old. The empire state building was built in 1931 and is now over 80 years old. As far as I know there are no serious structural defects with it. The golden gate bridge has now been standing for some 75 years and still carries thousands upon thousands of vehicles every day. Carrying literally mega-tons of weight and has successfully withstood all of San Franciso's earthquakes, so far. The Hoover dam which holds back millions of tons of water weight has stood since 1936.
When we speak of structural age, the question that is most important is whether or not the structure was built to withstand all the trials that it is expected to endure. The part of a nuclear reactor that contains the risk is encased within concrete walls several feet thick. Even today, when we build new reactors, these structures are still built of concrete and steel. If they are designed properly there really isn't any reason that the structures themselves won't endure hundreds of years.
However, at some point technology changes so much that old designs aren't necessarily unsafe, but are no longer design suitable for the new technologies used. At that point, the reactor is allowed to shut-down. The spent fuel rods are removed and the old containment structure is demolished and a new one built, often on the same site.
Nuclear energy is 'reasonably' safe and new controls and designs are instituted as they become known. I applaud your relative for his long years in the nuclear energy industry and I'm sure that some of his concerns may be valid so far as new construction, but as has been demonstrated in both the Chernobyl and Fukushima reactor accidents, human life is not in particularly grave danger when these things happen.
We didn't have bodies lined up across the plains of Russia nor did we have bodies stacked like cordwood around Fukushima. Were the accidents of concern when they happened? Sure. As are derailed train accidents when they happen. The greatest death toll by an industry at one time was the methyl isocyanate leak in Bhopal, India. The jurisdiction of Madhya Pradesh has accounted 3,787 confirmed deaths as a direct result of the leak.
Yes, we need the NRC making regular checks of safety manuevers and proceedures. Yes, we need to continue to make the production of nuclear energy safer as technology becomes available, but I don't think anyone running around like Chicken Little declaring that the sky is falling is of any real value to the cause at hand.
Be advised, however, that a nuclear accident is not what will bring about the end of this world.
Just my thoughts.
God bless you.
IN Christ, Ted
