Will This Be Our Extinction Level Event ???

Here is a report which theorizes that a massive power blackout coupled with an Ebola outbreak would be an extinction level event (ELE) for the United States:

http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/widespread-power-failure-plus-ebola-outbreak-become-americas-extinction-level-event/

It's an interesting theory, but it's reliance on "earthquake faults" is a red herring.

I spent over 25 years in the nuclear industry and was trained both as a naval nuclear propulsion engineer (by Rickover's staff) and as a senior reactor operator (by the GE SRO program).

Here is my professional opinion:

• Earthquake faults have always been overemphasized by the haters of nuclear energy.
• A far greater threat than earthquake is common mode failure. An example of this would be all bolts of the same type failing in the same manner at the same time. The industry says it cannot happen, but I have seen evidence that it can.
• Every nuclear plant relies on the grid as one of its power supplies. If the grid goes down, they're all vulnerable.
• The US electric grid apparently does have vulnerabilities, and the government is wise to not publicize them.

The countries in Africa currently suffering from the Ebola outbreak have a weak or nonexistent electrical grid compared to the US. So we should expect that a combination of Ebola and grid outage in the US would be similar to what is now happening in Africa. It is not an ELE for them, so why should it be an ELE for us?