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'Inadequate cleaning and flushing' of generator closed nuclear plant | StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC
'Inadequate cleaning and flushing' of generator closed nuclear plant
Broken generator’s governor wasn’t flushed adequately
Southport | The 10-day shutdown of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant in September was due to inadequate cleaning and flushing procedures during maintenance of the governors on the power plant’s emergency diesel generators (EDG), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report on its special inspection of the shutdown.
“Since the licensee’s cleanliness and flushing procedures were not adequate … the inspectors concluded that foreign material was likely introduced into the (emergency diesel generator) governor during licensee maintenance activities in April 2009,” the NRC report said.
NRC cites plant for violations » Knoxville News Sentinel
Probe finds executive drank on duty, faulty report by physician
ERWIN, Tenn. - Nuclear Fuel Services is being ordered to correct operational deficiencies after an investigation found a senior executive with the company had consumed alcohol on duty in violation of federal rules and a physician working for the company provided incomplete information on whether the executive was fit for duty.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued orders requiring Nuclear Fuel Services and a physician it contracts with to correct deficiencies in its Unicoi County plant related to the former executive the NRC says violated its fitness-for-duty requirements. The plant also was cited for a failure to administer hearing tests to security officers.
The Day - Nuke waste problem | News from southeastern Connecticut
It is great to read that several environmental groups are getting on board with the idea that more nuclear power construction has to be part of the mix if the nation is going to meet future energy needs while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
This newspaper is on record as supporting a revival of nuclear power, noting there is room for more reactors at Millstone Power Station in Waterford.
An Environmental Protection Agency analysis of the Waxman-Markey energy bill passed in the House shows nuclear energy generation more than doubling by 2050, if it becomes law. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing 22 nuclear-plant applications.
New Times SLO | PG&E seeks to renew Diablo license
Utility giant Pacific Gas and Electric announced Nov. 24 that it has applied to renew its operating license for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
PG&E chief nuclear officer John Conway did not reveal the price tag on the renewal process, but he said the renewal would cost millions of dollars, in accordance with California Public Utilities Commission regulations, which he did not detail.
The current license is set to expire in 2024 and 2025 for Units One and Two of the plant, respectively. The new license, should it be approved, would extend 20 years from those dates.
In the next step in the application process, according to PG&E Site Vice President Jim Becker, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will review PG&E’s application and make a decision on the further need for hearings.
“It’s fair to say this will be a multiyear process,” Becker said at a media conference.
NRC plans Aiken meeting to discuss latest MOX reviews 112409 - The Augusta Chronicle
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in Aiken to discuss the agency’s most recent round of reviews of the Energy Department’s $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel facility under construction at Savannah River Site.
The meeting, to be held at the Aiken Municipal Center, 215 The Alley, is a federal “management meeting” at which the parties involved in the project will discuss recent inspections. “Public
attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions of the NRC staff at the conclusion of the management meeting, but before the meeting adjourns,” according to the meeting notice.
The MOX facility, scheduled to open in 2016, is designed to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium by using small amounts to make fuel for commercial reactors.
PG&E to seek Calif. Diablo Canyon license renewal | Markets | Markets News | Reuters
PG&E Corp (PCG.N) said Tuesday it would seek to renew the licenses of the 2,240-megawatt Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California for an additional 20 years.
The current 40-year operating licenses for Diablo Canyon's units expire in 2024 and 2025.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said it usually takes about 22 months to make a decision on a license extension without a hearing or about 30 months with a hearing.
Extending the licenses is "important for the environmental and economic health of California," John Conway, PG&E senior vice president, energy supply and chie
NRC: Risk Management and Security – is it Time for a Recalibration? - Nuclear Power Industry News
Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. I am pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this important conference. The concept of managing risk to avoid adverse consequences has been with us since the first human beings appeared on the planet. Over time, the application of the principles of risk management to ever broader fields of activity has been constant and is still expanding. Some view this as progress and others as the unwelcome price we have to pay for the increasing complexity of our existence.
In the regulatory field, the concept of risk as a management tool is relatively recent. At the NRC, it was not until 1995 that the Commission issued a policy statement that encouraged the application of probabilistic risk assessment “as an extension and enhancement of traditional regulation.” As a regulator and based on the agency’s experience over the last two decades, I strongly support the use of risk analysis as a means to focus on the events and activities that pose the greatest risks to public health and safety and to ease unnecessary burdens on licensees. I believe we have come a long way since 1995. I also believe, however, that we can and should expand the systematic use of risk analysis to areas where, up to now, it has been used intermittently. I am referring here to the security arena. This will be a difficult task, however, and will require the concerted effort of the NRC and the industry to carry it out.
The Associated Press: Pipe-cutting led to radiation at Pa. nuke plant
Radioactive dust unexpectedly blew out of a pipe being cut by workers during weekend maintenance at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and officials on Monday were trying to determine exactly how and why it happened.
The accident at the central Pennsylvania plant — the site of the nation's worst nuclear power plant disaster — exposed a dozen employees to radiation, but the public was in no danger, plant officials and government regulators said.
Plant officials likened workers' maximum exposure to the equivalent of two medical X-rays, while the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the workers were exposed to a small fraction of the annual federal regulatory limit.
Associated Press: NRC investigating radiation at Three Mile Island
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending investigators to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant after a small amount of radiation was detected there.
About 150 employees were sent home Saturday afternoon after the radiation was detected at the central Pennsylvania plant.
Officials say there is no public health risk.
Exelon Nuclear spokeswoman Beth Archer says investigators are searching for a cause of the release. She says the radiation was quickly contained.
Tests showed the contamination was confined to surfaces inside the building.
Nuke plant may be cited for violations | The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA
PPL Corp.’s Susquehanna nuclear station in Salem Township failed to ensure two staff members met medical requirements, an inspection of the power plant found. The company could be cited for the “apparent violations” and receive additional future scrutiny, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on Friday.
The NRC, which performed the inspection, found that two senior reactor operators failed to meet the medical prerequisites for their individual licenses. One operator worked after failing an eye examination, PPL spokesman Joe Scopelliti said. The other worked for about three months after the deadline for a biennial medical exam had expired.
Charlotte Business Journal: Report: NRC, Westinghouse meet on AP1000
Westinghouse and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet next week to discuss issues over the design of the safety building for the proposed AP1000 nuclear reactor, Bloomberg reports.
Last month, the NRC rejected the design of the building that houses the reactor. The regulator says it is not clear the building can stand up to natural disasters such as tornadoes and earthquakes.
It asked Westinghouse to make additional changes or demonstrate that the building meets the required standard.
Bloomberg quotes NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko as saying that plans to build the structure in parts instead of a solid, single piece has raised regulatory concerns.
Westinghouse and its principal parent Toshiba Corp. have growing nuclear operations in Charlotte. The Shaw Power Group, also based in Charlotte, is the preferred contractor for AP1000 projects. Its parent, The Shaw Group, owns a 20 percent stake in Westinghouse.
NRC to Meet With Toshiba on Nuclear-Reactor Design (Correct) - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Toshiba Corp. next week to discuss the safety of its proposed AP1000 nuclear-reactor design.
Toshiba’s Westinghouse unit will address the commission’s concern about the structural integrity of the silo-shaped shield building that would contain the reactor and trap radioactivity in an accident, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said today in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York bureau.
Containment buildings at existing reactors were poured at the site as a solid piece of steel-reinforced concrete, Jaczko said. Toshiba wants to piece the building together from sections, he said.
“Where the staff has some concerns is how those things are tied together,” Jaczko said. “When you’re dealing with the kinds of accident scenarios that we look at, or hurricanes or tornados or seismic events, will that structure maintain its integrity?”
Nuclear plant wall found to have flaw | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Florida | Southwest Florida's Information Leader
Utility officials and regulators next week will review an analysis of what caused a crack in the concrete wall of the Crystal River nuclear plant's containment building.
Progress Energy will also present repair plans for the crack, which was discovered Oct. 2 as the utility was cutting a hole in the containment building wall to replace two generators.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also share its findings of what caused the concrete in the 42-inch-thick wall that surrounds the nuclear reactor to crack. The NRC sent its own team of inspectors to survey the plant.
NRC: TVA nuclear plant has fire response problem | BlueRidgeNow.com | Times-News Online | Hendersonville, NC
The Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in north Alabama has a fire response problem that could lead to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission civil penalty.
In a letter to TVA, the NRC said inspectors this year found that the plant near Athens, Ala., potentially violated four safety standards, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Thursday.
TVA spokesman Craig Beasley said the plant is working with regulators to address their concerns. He said TVA will "do the work necessary to implement the National Fire Protection Association standards at Browns Ferry."
NRC cites Entergy for inspection violation: Rutland Herald Online
Entergy Nuclear's problem-plagued cooling towers have again been cited by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, this time for a low-level safety violation of the towers' inspection program.
A recent federal inspection of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor revealed the low-level safety violation, which involves the inspection procedure at the cooling towers, Entergy Nuclear announced late Monday.
The problem earned Entergy Nuclear a "green" finding from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the lowest level of safety problems. The highest is red.
Vermont Yankee's cooling towers have been the source of numerous problems at the Vernon reactor during the past two years, including the partial collapse of a portion of one of the towers in August 2007, and repeated problems in the summer of 2008.
Progress Energy to review findings on crack in nuclear plant wall
Utility officials and regulators next week will review an analysis of what caused a crack in the concrete wall of the Crystal River nuclear plant's containment building.
Progress Energy also will present repair plans for the crack discovered Oct. 2 as the utility was cutting a hole in the containment building wall to replace two generators.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also share its findings of what caused the concrete in the 42-inch-thick wall that surrounds the nuclear reactor to crack. The NRC sent its own team of inspectors to survey the plant.
Feds extends Shippingport nuke licenses 20 years - News National & World, News Watch - Vindy.com, The Vindicator
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the operating license for two nuclear reactors in western Pennsylvania by 20 years each.
The NRC extended the licenses Thursday after a series of reviews an inspections at FirstEnergy Corp.’s Beaver Valley Unit 1 and Unit 2 reactors in Shippingport, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
The original 40-year operating license for Unit 1 expires in January 2016 while Unit 2’s license runs until May 2027. Those licenses now run until 2036 and 2047, respectively.
The Unit 1 reactor went online in 1976 and Unit 2 in 1987.
NRC's decision on B&W incident could take 4-6 weeks | Lynchburg News Advance
It could take more than a month for federal regulators to decide whether to take action against Babcock & Wilcox for possible violations, officials said Friday.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a conference with B&W officials to discuss four “apparent violations” in the company’s performance in ensuring safety and reporting emergencies. The issues relate to an event in July when uranium was found in a location without safety checks at B&W’s Mt. Athos site in Campbell County.
NRC officials voiced several concerns and B&W explained what happened in July, and how they have adjusted their procedures since then.
NRC chairman says Vogtle design needs safety changes | ajc.com
Thirty years after the nation's worst nuclear power plant accident, the partial meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, nuclear is back in the news.
Polls show increased public support, and advocates tout its relatively clean, homegrown power potential. Georgia is at the forefront of the industry's hopes, with Southern Co.'s Plant Vogtle near Augusta scheduled to put the first of two planned new reactors into service in 2016.
NRC checks unplanned shutdown at Indian Point 2 | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Federal investigators are examining what caused an electrical fault that shut down a nuclear power reactor at Indian Point 2 Monday night.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said the plant went to "hot shutdown" at 10:42 p.m. Monday, which means the reactor coolant system remains heated and pressurized, allowing the plant to be returned to service quickly.
"There's no danger posed to the public or the workers due to the shutdown," Sheehan said Tuesday. "The operators followed the appropriate procedures and shut it down, but there's still work to be done as far as what caused the shutdown and the complications that occurred."
NRC investigators visited the site late Monday night.
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