Engineer resigned 35 years ago over reactor design

A GENERAL Electric Co engineer said he resigned 35 years ago over concern about the safety of a nuclear reactor design used in the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in Japan.

Dale Bridenbaugh said the “Mark 1” design had “not yet been designed to withstand the loads” that could be experienced in a large-scale accident.

“At the time, I didn’t think the utilities were taking things seriously enough,” Mr Bridenbaugh, now retired, said. “I felt some of the plants should have been shut down while the analysis was completed, and GE and the utilities didn’t want to do that, so I left.”