Plan G

Plan G is typically the point in a disaster marked by a high level of praying for the dead and fighting like hell for the living.  It appears 50 or so nuclear engineers and technicians at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are at their own Plan G.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

The global disaster we are all witnessing points out several key points that engineers and the public should keep in mind.  One is that the path of forward progress is sometimes less than straight.  But long term it is generally linear and upward.  We have setbacks and sidetracks - - because bad things are going to happen, it is simply a matter of when.  In the United States, we probably need to stitch that on the flag.

Another point is that complex systems almost always fail in complex ways.  Accidents like the one at Fukushima are fundamentally at the threshold of complexity and chaos.  Remember that the greatest complexities arise at system boundaries.  In the case of Fukushima, the boundaries are where active generation interfaces with spent fuel and energy interfaces with water.

The last point might be the most important.  You learn much about a country when things fall apart.  We learned much about the U.S. during Katrina and we will learn much about Japan during this disaster.  So far, we have seen a culture steeped in dignity and resilience.