Zero Day_ A Novel - Mark Russinovich [14]
Josh Arnold stood up in place as if he might suddenly need to run. “Something’s going on, Barney.”
At that moment Favor could feel the change. The plant was tens of thousands of moving parts, each performing its specific function. The mix produced a familiar vibration and comforting background hum that changed only when one of the two reactors was taken off-line for maintenance. Otherwise, nothing ever changed.
“The turbines are speeding up,” Whistle said as if to himself. “I’m resetting the control.” He looked at the gauges, the amber lights playing across his face. “No change.”
“Heat’s up, Barney,” Arnold said, touching the temperature gauge in front of him as if to confirm what his eyes told him. “I don’t see why, though.”
The twin nuclear piles were set to run at their standard temperature, allowing the water coursing through them to be superheated to produce the steam that created electricity. A second stream of water ran through the system like coolant from the radiator of an automobile, intended to maintain the core at exactly the right temperature. It was all self-monitoring and self-adjusting. Until this moment, Favor had considered it impossible for the reactor to increase in heat without his ordering the computer to make the change.
“Watch the pressure,” Favor said. Pressure was key to being certain the nuclear core was always covered with water. The crew at Three Mile Island had notoriously failed to ensure that single necessity and, as a result, had brought disgrace on themselves and an end to new nuclear plants in the United States.
“Pressure’s up,” Whistle said, his face paling. “And it’s rising fast.”
The Klaxon sounded, repeating every three seconds. Atop the curved wall, red lights began to blink. The computer had taken them to Code Red.
“Shut it down!” Barney shouted. “Josh, call Central Iowa and inform them we’re going off-line now!”
“Jesus, Barney, they’ll raise hell. Half of Des Moines will go dark.”
“Do it, Orin, shut it down now!”
Orin hesitated. “We’ve got a few minutes to figure this out, Barney. There’ll be hell to pay if we act too fast.”
“We aren’t going to figure this out.” Favor knew there was no point in delay. Trying to outthink a computer, even one making a mistake if that proved the case, was foolhardy. “The computers run things now. Tell them we’re shutting the reactors down now!”
Orin typed commands on his keyboard and punched the ENTER button.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Favor asked when nothing changed.
“Sure thing, Barney,” said Orin, his eyes frantically scanning the gauges. “But there’s no response.”
Josh cupped his hand over the mouth of the telephone. “Central Iowa wants to know why they aren’t getting the standard three-hour notice so they can pull juice from elsewhere.”
“Tell them we’ll call back,” Favor said. “Orin, give it the command again. Josh, check the temperature. And turn off the damn Klaxon and lights!”
Favor had moved so he could monitor the key indicators, his soft drink unopened and unnoticed in his hand. The noise stopped and the red lights were extinguished. Several workers from other sections had filed into the room, but they stood well back, watching nervously.
“The temperature’s spiking, Barney. I’ve never seen it this high,” Josh said. “The turbines are screaming.”
The men heard a high-pitched whistle. “What’s that?” Orin said, his face now chalk white.
“Oh, shit,” Favor muttered. “We’re venting coolant. The water’s turned to steam. Orin, shut the fucker off!”
“I’ve given it the command four times, Barney. Nothing’s happening! Don’t blame me.”
Though a nuclear reactor is complicated, in one aspect it’s quite simple. Left alone, uranium runs into an uncontrolled chain reaction. But it’s not left alone. Control rods are inserted in a regular pattern through it. They absorb neutrons and have the power to turn the core cold. The plant is heated simply by raising the rods. All that is necessary to regulate heat, or shut the plant down, for that matter, is to lower the rods.
But the computers were refusing to do just