The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station disaster
A major disaster happened in Russia and it has not gotten much press here.
A reader emailed me a power point presentation of an analysis of the disaster (basically water hammer lifting the turbines up out of their housing) but the Boston Globe's Big Picture beat me to it with their always excellent photographs.
Check out
The Sayano-Shushenskaya dam accident
Here are three images:
Generator hall -- before and after:
A closeup of one of the turbines -- these things are about 40 feet in diameter. Imagine the forces that can toss it around like a dry leaf in a storm...
At least 74 confirmed deaths.
Posted by DaveH at September 9, 2009 9:55 PM