Nuclear safety in the United States inadvertently reversed pipe restraints at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant reactors, compromising seismic protection systems, which further undermined confidence in nuclear safety. All of these well-publicised events, undermined public support for the U.S. nuclear industry in the 1970s and the 1980s. In 2002, the USA had what former NRC Commissioner Victor Gilinsky termed "its closest brush with disaster" since Three Mile Island's 1979 meltdown; a workman at the Davis-Besse reactor found a large rust hole in the top of the reactor pressure vessel. Recent concerns have been expressed about safety issues affecting a large part of the nuclear fleet of
Nuclear reactor safety system heat removal system (RHR or RHS). LPCI is generally not a stand-alone system. This system uses spargers (pipes fitted with an array of many small spray nozzles) within the reactor pressure vessel to spray water directly onto the fuel rods, suppressing the generation of steam. Reactor designs can include core spray in high-pressure and low-pressure modes. This system consists of a series of pumps and spargers that spray coolant into the upper portion of the primary containment structure. It is designed to condense the steam into liquid within the primary containment structure in order to prevent overpressure and overtemperature, which