Prepping

What is the shelf life of bottled water? That’s a great question and one that everyone who stores more than a case of bottled water has probably asked at some point.

From what I’ve read online and from the emails that I’ve gotten from my readers it seems that many think that drinking bottled water that’s over a few weeks old will result in sickness or instant death and this simply isn’t the case.

So what is the shelf life of bottled water… well, the simple and most accurate answer is that bottled water has an indefinite shelf life if it’s stored properly. However, the plastic bottles can breakdown or leach chemicals such as BPA causing problems… this is especially true if bottled water isn’t stored properly.

How to Store Bottled Water

Since the shelf life of bottled water depends mostly on storage conditions it’s important to know what those conditions are so that you can store your bottled water under optimal conditions which provide the longest possible shelf life and water quality for consumption.

Store in a cool, dark place away from products with strong odors such as cleaning supplies.

Avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight and if forced to store water outside then keep it covered up and protected from the elements and temperature extremes as much a possible, however, outside storage isn’t recommended and water stored this way should be brought inside and stored under proper conditions or consumed as soon as possible.

Don’t store bottled water near a heat source or directly on the floor or on the ground (this also applies to any other consumable beverages or food items). To minimize the possible growth of bacteria and algae store bottled water in the dark.

I store bottled water in my basement on free wooden pallets that I get from a local hardware store and cover with a tarp to keep out any light.

To avoid crushing or damaging the cases of water on the bottom I stack the cases no more than six cases high. If you have a lot of cases than you could build or buy shelving to make better use of storage space in your allotted storage area.

As with food storage, bottled water should be dated using a permanent marker to note the storage date on each case and then use on a first-in-first-out rotation this will minimize the chance of the plastic bottles breaking down or any degradation of water quality.

What Happens When Plastic Water Bottles Get Hot?

According to The University of Florida water stored in plastic bottles can be unsafe to drink after being left in a hot car because some water bottles (maybe all?) are made from polyethylene terephthalate and can release the chemicals antimony and bisphenol A, or BPA, when exposed to heat and can raise the BPA levels above what is considered safe..

What is BPA, and what are the concerns about BPA?

According to the Mayo Clinic:

BPA stands for bisphenol A. BPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960s.

BPA is found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics are often used in containers that store food and beverages, such as water bottles. They may also be used in other consumer goods.

Epoxy resins are used to coat the inside of metal products, such as food cans, bottle tops and water supply lines. Some dental sealants and composites also may contain BPA.

Some research has shown that BPA can seep into food or beverages from containers that are made with BPA. Exposure to BPA is a concern because of possible health effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children. Additional research suggests a possible link between BPA and increased blood pressure.

However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that BPA is safe at the very low levels that occur in some foods.

So the takeaway is that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that small amounts of BPA are “safe” larger amounts can pose a health risk when consumed especially when consumed over an extended amount of time like that would be the case if you had stored several months worth of bottled water inside your car trunk or inside an outbuilding in the summer.

The same goes for soda (or pop in the south) don’t leave or store it inside a hot car or in other areas where heat could become a problem… 

To recap – don’t store bottled water (or soda pop) inside a hot car, outbuilding or other location where heat could be an issue and you won’t have to worry about BPA or other nasty and potentially health-harming substances leaching into your bottled water.

Or, will you?

Another problem when it comes to bottled water is that we have no way of knowing how long or how it was stored before we came along and put it in our shopping carts.

For all, that we know the cases of bottled water that we picked up yesterday at the local grocery could have been sitting for days or even weeks in a semi-truck trailer in Arizona during the peak summer heat or in a hot warehouse under the same conditions. 

The Bottom Line

In my opinion, it is best to avoid drinking or eating from plastic as much as possible. Although the FDA has stated that BPA is safe at low levels, that could change after further research into BPA safety, and then who knows if the FDA reports and recommendations were influenced by outside sources such as in the case of the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies as detailed in this report.

Store only a few cases of bottled water or soda at a time, date and use as soon as possible on a first-in-first-out rotation.  Also, use glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers for hot foods and liquids instead of plastic containers as much as possible.

Related Questions

How long does bottled water last after opened? Opened bottled water will last indefinitely as long as it’s clean and stored under the proper conditions as stated above, however, over time it may lose its peak quality and or taste.

How can you tell if bottled water is bad or spoiled? If the bottled water develops an off odor, flavor or appearance it should be discarded – in an emergency, it can be purified before drinking (click here to read my article on water storage and water purification).

How long do 5-gallon water jugs last? Milk jugs are biodegradable, meaning that they will break down over time and should not be used for long-term water storage. The best storage containers for drinking water are the AquaBrick Emergency Water & Food Storage Containers that are sold on Amazon or by the prepper supply dealers (click here to see current price and availability on amazon.com).

Is it safe to drink old bottled water? Yes, it’s safe to drink old bottled water as long as it hasn’t developed an off odor, bad flavor or appearance then it’s probably safe to drink. However, if in doubt then purify the water before drinking. You do have a water filter, right (click here read the full review of the Katadyn Vario Water Filter)?

Also, read:  

• What Foods Have the Longest Shelf Life?
• How Long Does Canned Food Last?

If this article was helpful or interesting then please leave a “heck yeah” in the comments section below…

by Tara Dodrill

How long does canned food last? Well, that will depend on several very important factors. First, there is a difference between the potential shelf life of home-canned fresh produce or meat and commercially canned food items – at least according to the United States Department of Agriculture – USDA.

As a general rule store-bought, canned foods can remain edible for several years past the listed expiration date on the can, however, canned foods that are eaten past the listed expiration date may not have the full nutritional value as the same foods that are eaten before the given expiration date on the can.

There are several different varieties of “canned” food and date stamps applied to supermarket preserved food – both of these factors can make it very confusing to know when it is time to throw out the items stocked in your pantry. Fear of eating canned food beyond a date stamped onto a can accounts for about 20 percent of safe food waste in the United States annually.

Home Canned Food

The federal government (USDA) only considers home-canned food shelf-stable for up to 12 months and commercially canned food safe to eat for between two to five years – depending on the type of food inside the can.

Anyone who has been growing and canning food for a long time, or grew up eating home-canned food from grandma’s garden, already knows most food canned from a backyard garden or farm is typically stored and eaten for far longer than 12 months. If properly canned and stored, many farmers, homesteaders, and preppers eat home-canned meat and produce for up to five or sometimes even 10 years, after it was harvested – but the USDA strongly recommends against such a practice.

Just as with commercially canned food, it is essential to visually inspect the storage container for signs of cracking, damage, rust, or leaking – as well as the look of the food inside, before consuming any preserved food.

The answer to how long home-canned food will remain safe to eat will vary widely based upon who you ask.

A can of corn discovered in 1974 and had been sitting on a basement shelf in California for 40 years was examined by scientists from the National Food Processors Association. The researchers found that the canned corn both smelled and looked like it had only recently been canned. Upon further review, the scientists also learned a few of the nutrients in the corn (vitamin C, in particular) had lower levels than freshly canned or in date corn.

When cans of peppers were unearthed from a steamboat that sank in Nebraska more than a century, extremely similar results to those found after reviewing the can of corn.

Will every home-canned food item yield these same results? Maybe, maybe not. The USDA would not want you to eat anything canned in your own kitchen that is even a quarter as old, but learning how to can food properly, could make a life or death difference during a long-term disaster…and the extensive reconstruction phase which would follow.

Expiration Dates Explained

There are no true standards when it comes to the labeling of expiration dates of canned food, with the exception of baby formula. The expiration dates placed on cans is primarily intended for use by grocery stores so they know when to pull food from shelves because it is no longer guaranteed safe to consume beyond that date.

Some manufacturers use the term “expiration” others use phrases like “use by” or “best by” when stamping a date onto the bottom of a can. Once that relatively arbitrary dates passes, that does not necessarily mean the can most be thrown out and money lost. That date merely means the food is guaranteed to be safe to consume until the date stamp on the can passes.

Shelf Life Storage Factors

How the canned food, whether it is preserved at home or in a factory, is stored, will most likely have a vast impact on its shelf life. Canned food that is stored in a cool and dry place will almost always last a lot longer than canned food stored in a warm place that is exposed to even indirect artificial light or sunlight.

This is why tens of thousands of Americans used to routinely undertook the back-breaking work of digging a root cellar. The cool and dark storage area where the corn, tomatoes, and peppers noted above were found, almost certainly played a significant role in the incredible preservation longevity. Exposure to light also can diminish the overall nutrient quality of canned food.

While storing canned food in a basement should help it remain safe to eat long past the noted “sell by” date on the can, the placement location even in the underground storage area, is still substantially important.

If the home or commercially canned food is stored near a furnace or beneath pipes where hot water runs, it probably not last as long as the same food stored elsewhere in the basement away from the house utility features.

There are some drawbacks to both using root cellars and basements for storing canned food. If the canned food was not properly sealed, moisture from the typically damp location will infiltrate the food, forcing it to become either invisibly unsafe to out or quite visibly rancid.

Dampness causes the metal in home-canned food or commercially preserved cans, to corrode and ultimately leak If the lid or any portion of the can is damaged or there is flaking in the lid, that might indicate acid has worn through the metal and permitted potentially harmful microorganisms to get inside.

If the lid of home-canned food or any part of commercially canned food shows signs of rust, the contents inside are likely contaminated and no longer safe to eat. Before consuming any canned food past the USDA recommended guidelines, always inspect the food for signs of discoloration or unnatural changes in the texture of the food – this is actually a great habit to get into even when opening a can of food that is only a few weeks to months old.

Also review the color and texture of any broth, brine, or syrup the food is packed in to better detect signs of spoilage. If the liquid boasts a musty smell or appears either opaque or “muddy” in color, that is a sure sign the canned food might no longer be safe to eat.

If liquid squirts out of the can upon opening, air and moisture have infiltrated the inside, making the food quite unlikely to still be safe to consume.

Should you still be unsure about the quality of the food inside a can after following the tips above, do a little taste test.

Dip a clean finger just slightly into the can and sample its contents. Hopefully, you would be able to determine if the food “tastes right” from past experience eating the same item. This test should only be used as a last resort during a disaster scenario when no other food was available and you were desperate to eat.

Impact Of Acid Content On Shelf Life

Canned food with low acidic content can remain safe to eat approximately two to even five, years longer than food with high acidic content. Foods that are high in acid contain vinegar. The same vinegar that helps to preserve the beneficial nutrients in the food causes them to decompose at a far greater rate.

Food with high acid content should boast the crispest or fresh taste as well as the most nutrients for the first 12 months after being preserved, but they will not be shelf-stable.

Therefore, home or commercially canned meat and fish could potentially possess a longer shelf life than many varieties of preserved vegetables or fruit.

Canned pumpkin, peas, carrots, potatoes, and soups as long as they do not contain tomatoes, should have a substantially longer shelf life well past the “best by” date stamped on the can or permanent marker date inked to the top of a Mason jar lid.

High acidic foods that will likely only be shelf-stable or up to 18 months include all varieties of citrus, tomatoes, and pickles – due to the amount of vinegar in the brine used to make them.

Five Commercially Canned Food Items With Longest Shelf Life

1. Hormel Spam. – This cheap processed meat product might not be a gourmet delight, but it is filled with protein, sodium, and “good” fats that should help your body strong during a long-term disaster. You could mix the canned Spam into soup or stew recipes to create more filling and energy building meals. How long will Spam keep? Some claim to have opened and safely eaten a can of Spam 10 full years after the expiration date stamped on the top of the can.
2. Beef Stew – This is a low acid offering from the supermarket soup aisle because it does not contain tomatoes. It should safely keep, when stored properly, for about five years.
3. Chunked Chicken Breast – The small cans of chunked or shredded poultry you would buy to make chicken salad also boast a low acidic count and are full of protein and sodium. This low acid canned food is typically expected to remain shelf-stable for around five years when stored in a cool dry and dark place.
4. Canned Chili With Beans – This protein-rich commercially canned food also possesses at least an average fiber count and when stored properly, can remain safe to eat for at least five years.
5. Green Beans – Getting in your greens could prove to be both especially difficult and important during a doomsday disaster. Stocking up on green beans when they are on sale or adding a few more rows to your garden will increase your level of shelf-stable greens. When stored properly, green beans should remain safe to eat for at least five years but possibly seven.

Food Rotation System

To avoid the loss of food and the money it cost to either grow or buy it, use a simple food rotation process for all types of canned goods. The first can put onto the shelf should be the first one pulled out and used.

Food storage rack system made for commercially canned food are designed so you roll a can onto an upper ramp, forcing each can to be pushed toward the opening where it can be selected and used – first can in…first can out.

Also, read: What Foods Have the Longest Shelf Life? [My Top 20 Checklist]

Here are some of my favorite prepping gear

Thank you for investing your time in this article, and I sincerely hope it has provided valuable insights to strengthen your survival preparedness. As a survivalist, I make use of a variety of tools and gear, many of which have proven to be indispensable in my journey. Here, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite survival gear, which I believe you will find beneficial as well.

These are affiliate links, meaning if you decide to use any of them, I’ll earn a commission at no additional cost to you. However, I assure you that these recommendations come from personal experience – these are the exact tools I trust, use, and confidently recommend to everyone, including my own family.

1. Long-Term Food Storage: ‘My Patriot Supply‘ is my top choice for emergency food supplies. Their selection caters to long-term storage needs, ensuring you’re always prepared.
2. Water Filter: Clean, safe drinking water is a priority in any situation. This water filter has served me well, and I trust it will for you too.
3. Versatile Cooking Solution: The Zoom Versa Cook Stove is a reliable, versatile cooking solution perfect for outdoor and survival scenarios.

I’ve compiled an extensive, frequently updated list of my top survival gear recommendations for your convenience. Equip yourself with the best and latest gear here.

Remember, true survival isn’t merely about making it through – it’s about effectively navigating and thriving in challenging circumstances. Equip yourself well, stay informed, and always be prepared.

by Robert H

If you live or camp off the grid or plan to then you’ll need to figure out and plan how you’re going to cook off the grid. There are several ways and fuel choices and I’ll talk about those below. If you have any other suggestions or ideas then please leave those in the comments section below.

Propane

The use of propane is easy and quick.  A small propane stove could be purchased and then stored until the need for use.  Propane is clean and produces good heat for cooking and canning.  The downside of a stove/oven would be the amount used.  Either multiple bottles or a large tank would be needed to keep operating it during a SHTF scenario.

A propane fish cooker would be a second option.  With the proper regulator, gas usage would be minimal.  The cooker would be large enough to can food or just cook a meal.  As a plus, in the event that you would have to bug-out, the cooker would be able to be loaded in a vehicle and carried with you to another location.

The use of a propane camp stove is a good third option, either using 1 pound bottles or a hose connector.  An adapter is made to refill the 1 pound bottles which would help out in the long-term. The use of a gas grill would allow you to cook also.

With the storage of propane the use of a grill would allow portability with a large cooking area.  Grills can be used with either bottles or hooked to a large tank for long-term use. All four of these options allow the use of a camp oven.

Storage of propane is simple and the propane does not go bad in storage.

White Gas

Camping stoves that use white gas are available new, in stores, or for sale used.  They cook very well.  A downside of these stove are fuel storage and parts/repair kits. White gas usually comes in metal cans which can rust and cause leakage.  Fuel viability over long-term would be iffy.  Parts kits are available, but, when they are gone, they’re gone.

These are very portable and yes, you can use a camp oven with these too.

Charcoal

Charcoal, either lump or briquettes, are a good option for cooking food.  Charcoal can be used with a grill or can be used with a dutch oven.  Dutch ovens will allow you to bake or stew meals as an alternative to using other methods of cooking.  Charcoal can be made by burning wood in a low oxygen environment.

Charcoal storage is easy.  The use of metal barrels or trash cans will keep it dry and ready to use.  Moisture is the enemy to worry about. Although not very portable, concerning space used, if you are staying put this is a good alternate source of cooking.

A camp oven can be used with most grills too. WORD OF CAUTION:  the use of charcoal indoors is VERY DANGEROUS as carbon monoxide poisoning is a deadly and real threat if it is used indoors.

Cooking with wood

Cooking with wood allows many and variable options also.  Getting a wood burning cook stove would be the ultimate in wood cooking.  These stoves have many options that could allow baking, cooking, and even heating water for clean up or bathing.  As a bonus, the cook stove can be used to heat during the winter.

Cleaning and amount of wood used are minor drawbacks.  Cooking in the summer would be a chore, but if the stove is put in a room that would allow a cooling breeze to enter and carry out the heat, it would be bearable.  If a room was added to an existing structure then it could be open in the summer and closed off during the winter so as to allow the heat to remain in the home.

Rocket stoves and wood gas stove allow cooking with the use of minimal wood.  These are available for purchase on the internet or can be made with pipe or even tin cans.  Heavier stoves that can be made would last a lifetime. The use of a camp oven could be used with the making of some type of bracket system to hold it off of the fire.

A rocket mass heater can be made to include an oven and a stove top to cook on.  Mass-heaters are a good way to heat but would have a few drawbacks for cooking.  Portability would be a big issue for some.  Using it to cook would heat a room and continue to radiate heat for even days.

No smoke or very little smoke would be a very large added plus though.  If a way to move air and remove excess heat were taken into consideration, then this would be a good option for bugging in.

A fireplace can be used to cook on if care is taken to reduce the risk of fire.  A fireplace does not use fuel very efficiently though.  When using a fireplace to cook with, a plume of smoke would also give away your position.

But, the chimney would also send the smell of cooking higher into the air and would dissipate the odors faster and better.  It would be very hard to use a camp oven with a fireplace but it could be done.

In a rural setting or suburban setting, wood can be gotten with a little effort or even just picking up sticks and branches around the yard or neighborhood.  Cutting of firewood after the fact would be a large chore that would burn a lot of energy.

But, with a good sharp axe or saw, the effort can be minimized.

Kerosene

Kerosene stoves and even burners can be had on the market.  Some of the stoves include ovens and even hot water tanks.  The kerosene burners would allow the use of a camp oven without the expense of a full-size stove.

Kerosene can be stored longer than gasoline or white gas but will still go bad over time.

Solar

Solar ovens can be bought online or made with wood and mirrors.  They can even be made with cardboard and aluminum foil.  These ovens can be used to cook with as long as the sun is shining and you have the time to wait.  Very good used to cook all day meals as a slow cooker.  Some of the ones purchased, allow baking bread and treats as it will get to very high temperatures.

Mud / Cob stoves

Cob stoves can be made using local materials usually.  With sand, clay, and some labor you can make an oven that can be a focal point at a backyard BBQ or used in a SHTF scenario.  These can be used to make bread or cook in an oven type environment.

Heat retention is very good and you can bake multiple batches of bread at a time.  If this is built outside, then some type of cover would be needed to keep the rain off of it.  This will prolong the life of your hard work.

The oven can be heated using rocket stove technology or even a fire built inside of it and using the coals for heat.  As it is being built, rocket stove inserts can be added at the side to have access to stovetop cooking.  The use of a wok for frying or cooking would be an added bonus.  The oven can be made of cob or as a steel box with racks and a door.

Wood Ovens

Ovens can be bought with wood stoves or kerosene stoves.  Wood ovens can be bought and used in bad times.  Ovens can be bought or made.  A camping oven can be bought or you can go all the way to large wood-fired ovens that could even cook a turkey.

Ovens can be made using cob, steel, even brick. You can make simple ovens using an ammo can.  But the easiest would probably be a large rural mailbox.  It is large enough to bake in by turning it on its side.

The door is ready-made.  If it burns out, more are readily available in a rural setting.  Large ammo cans are thicker metal and would last longer, but the latch would have to be modified to make it more user-friendly.  Dutch ovens are good for cooking and are used with coals or charcoal.

All in all, there are many ways to cook.  These may range in price from many thousand dollars down to free.  It can just depend on the time and effort you are willing to spend on your project.

by Dr. Arthur T. Bradley

According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there are sixty-one active commercial nuclear plants spread across the United States. A question on the minds of many is what would happen to those plants if the nation experienced a widespread, long-lasting power outage?

Let me start by saying that there is a quite a bit of misinformation on the web about this subject, so my advice is to be careful about what you choose to believe.

Many of you may know that I have a background in science and engineering (Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering), so I believed that if I could talk with a knowledgeable person working in the nuclear power industry, I could get to the bottom of this question.

To find answers, I consulted Jim Hopson, the Manager of Public Relations at the Tennessee Valley Authority. As readers may point out, it was in Mr. Hopson’s interest to assure me that nuclear plants are safe, but to be fair, I found him to be forthright about the industry’s safeguards and vulnerabilities.

Probably the best place to start is with a basic discussion of how a nuclear power plant operates. There are two types of reactors in the U.S., boiling water reactors (BWRs) and pressurized water reactors (PWRs). For the purposes of our discussion, the differences in their operation aren’t terribly important. Nuclear reactors use an atomic process called fission to generate heat.

The heat is then used to create steam that turns large turbines to generate electricity. The steam is later condensed and returned in a closed-loop process within the reactor system.

The nuclear reaction itself is beyond the scope of this brief write up (and my expertise), but the gist is that an energetic neutron is absorbed by a uranium-235 nucleus, briefly turning it into a uranium-236 nucleus.

The uranium-236 then splits into lighter elements, releasing a large amount of energy. The physical system inside the reactor consists of tens of thousands of nuclear fuel rods placed into a water bath. The rods are essentially long metal tubes filled with ceramic nuclear pellets that are bundled together into larger assemblies. Trivia bit… a nuclear fuel pellet is about the size of a pencil eraser but equivalent in energy to one ton of coal.

The risks of nuclear power are many, but two stand above the rest. The first is that the fuel assemblies in the reactor might overheat. That would only occur if the fission process became uncontrolled or if the cooling system failed. Should overheating occur, the fuel rods’ zirconium cladding and nuclear materials could both melt, resulting in a nuclear sludge akin to molten lava. That slag would be so hot that it might melt through the bottom of the reinforced reactor.

Eventually, it would cool enough to harden, but not before it had spewed nuclear contaminants into the air. Melting zirconium also releases hydrogen, which could lead to an explosion that might actually expel the nuclear material into the surrounding area—think Fukushima.

The good news is that nuclear fission can be stopped in under one second through the insertion of control rods. Those control rods are automatically inserted near the fuel rods either by a hydraulic system or through the use of an electromagnetic deadman switch that activates when power is removed. That means that when the electrical grid goes down or an emergency shutdown is initiated, fission would automatically stop one second later.

That’s a good thing, but it doesn’t make the reactor inherently safe. Even without fission, the fuel rod assemblies remain incredibly hot, perhaps a thousand degrees C. If they were not actively cooled, pressure and temperatures would build in the reactor until something breaks—not good.

After three days of active cooling, however, the reactor would be thermally cool enough to open, should it be deemed necessary to remove the fuel rod assemblies.

The second major risk has to do with the cooling of the spent fuel rod assemblies. Nuclear fuel rod assemblies have a usable life on the order of 54-72 months (depending on reactor type). Every 18-24 months, the reactor is brought down and serviced. While it is down, the fuel rod assemblies are removed, and 1/3 of them are replaced with fresh assemblies.

Think of this like rotating cans of food in your emergency pantry. In the U.S., fuel rods are not refurbished like in other countries. Instead, they are carefully stored in giant pools of water laced with boric acid—imagine a swimming pool at your local YMCA that is 75-feet deep.

Those spent fuel rod assemblies are still incredibly radioactive, and they continue to generate heat. Water in the pool must, therefore, be circulated to keep them cool. How long must the fuel rods be cooled? According to Mr. Hopson, the answer is 5-7 years.

After that, the rods are cool enough to be removed and stored in reinforced concrete casks. Even then, the rods continue to be radioactive, but their heat output can be passively managed.

Nuclear plants obviously require electricity to operate their cooling pumps, not to mention their control systems. That power is normally tapped off of the electricity that the reactor generates. If the plant is offline, the power is provided by the electrical grid.

But what happens when the grid itself goes down? The short answer is that large on-site diesel generators automatically activate to provide electricity. And if those should fail, portable diesel generators, which are also on-site, can be connected. Recent standardization has also ensured that generators can be swapped between plants without the need to retrofit connectors.

There are also a couple of additional emergency systems that can be used specifically to cool the reactor. These include the turbine-driven-auxiliary-feedwater pump, which uses steam generated by the reactor to power a cooling turbine.

The pump requires an operator, but it runs completely without electricity. This system, however, is meant only for emergency cooling of the reactor during those critical first few days when the fuel rod assemblies are being brought down in temperature, not for long-term cooling.

And finally, in the worst case, most plants have a method of bringing in river or ocean water to flood the reactor. This typically damages the cooling system, but again, it helps to cool and cover the reactor core should all else fail. Unlike in other countries, permission from the federal government is not required to flood the reactor.

With backup systems to the backup systems, it would seem that there’s nothing to worry about, right? Under all but the direst of circumstances, I think that assessment is correct. However, one could imagine a scenario in which the grid was lost and the diesel generators ran out of fuel. Speaking of fuel, how much is actually stored onsite?

It depends on the plant, but at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, for example, there is enough fuel to run the emergency diesel generators for at least 42 days. I say at least because it would depend on exactly what was being powered.

Once the reactor was cooled down, a much smaller system, known as the Residual Heat Removal System, would be all that was required to keep the fuel assemblies cool, both in the reactor and the spent fuel rods pool.

The generators and onsite fuel supply could power that smaller cooling system for significantly longer than if they were powering the larger reactor cooling system. Even if we assumed a worst-case of forty-two days, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which that would not be enough time to bring in additional fuel either by land, water, or air.

Nonetheless, let’s push the question a little further. What would happen in the unlikely event that the diesel fuel was exhausted?

Even with the reactor having been successfully cooled, the biggest risk would continue to be overheating of the fuel rod assemblies, both in the reactor and the spent fuel rods pool. Without circulation, the heat from the fuel rod assemblies could boil the surrounding water, resulting in steam.

In turn, the water levels would drop, ultimately exposing the fuel rods to air. Once exposed to air, their temperatures would rise but not to the levels that would melt the zirconium cladding. Thankfully, that means that meltdown would not occur. The steam might well carry radioactive contaminants into the air, but there would be no release of hydrogen and, thus, no subsequent explosions.

The situation would certainly be dangerous to surrounding communities, but it wouldn’t be the nuclear Armageddon that many people worry about.

The bottom line is that in the event of a long-duration blackout, several things would need to occur. First, fission would need to be halted by the insertion of control rods, a process that takes less than one second. Next, the reactor would need to be cooled for at least three days using the large diesel engines to provide electrical power. After that, the fuel rods would be cool enough that the reactor could be opened, and the plant’s Residual Heat Removal System could be used to provide cooling.

That smaller system would need to operate for 5-7 years to ensure that the fuel rod assemblies, both in the reactor and in the spent fuel rods pool, didn’t overheat. Only then could the fuel rod assemblies be moved to concrete casks for dry storage and final dispositioning. During those 5-7 years, electricity in one form or another would be required.

If it was not maintained, radioactive contamination could be released into the air, but the temperatures of the fuel rods would not be high enough to cause a complete meltdown or the dangerous release of hydrogen.

The point of this article wasn’t to convince anyone that nuclear power generation is safe. I would argue that history has already proven that it comes with some very serious risks. Rather, it was to discuss the impact of a long-duration blackout.

Specifically, it focused on the safeguards that are currently in place, and more importantly, discussed the magnitude of the catastrophe that might result if we allowed those safeguards to fail.