Nuclear reactor accidents in the United States ordered during the late 1960s raised new safety questions and created fears of a severe reactor accident that would send large quantities of radiation into the environment. In the early 1970s, a highly contentious debate over the performance of emergency core cooling systems in nuclear plants, designed to prevent a core meltdown that could lead to the "China syndrome", received coverage in the popular media and technical journals. In 1976, four nuclear engineers —three from GE and one from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission— resigned, stating that nuclear power was not as safe as their superiors were claiming. They testified to
Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant which can prevent release of radioactive material into the environment even in case of serious accident; for example breakage of pipes in the reactor cooling circuit. The reactor cooling circuit is housed in hermetic reinforced concrete boxes that can withstand a force of 4.5 kgf/cm. Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant ( []) is a nuclear power station in Russia. It is located in the Smolensk region, in Desnogorsk province, approximately 100 km from Smolensk, 115 km from Bryansk and 320 km from Moscow. Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant is the biggest nuclear plant in the Nechernozem region of