Home
Energy Net's Library tagged → View Popular
North Anna reactor shutdown caused cooling-water discharge into lake | Richmond Times-Dispatch
The most recent shutdown of a nuclear reactor at Dominion Virginia Power's North Anna Power Station also involved the accidental discharge of tens of thousands of gallons of cooling water into Lake Anna.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday's shutdown of Unit 2, caused by an electrical malfunction, also prompted the discharge of what was originally thought to be up to 59,500 gallons of cooling water into the Louisa County lake.
The NRC said Dominion Virginia Power told the agency that it later appeared that the amount of discharge was actually closer to 35,000 gallons.
Dominion Virginia Power also told the NRC that the lake water was tested after the discharge and was found to be within government-approved limits.
Uranium Study Finally Gets a Green Light | Lynchburg News Advance
Word came Thursday that Virginia’s uranium mining study has gotten the go-ahead from a top panel of the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.
At last, science and rational thought seem to be prevailing in this decades-long dispute.
The National Research Council (NRC) is part of nation’s premier scientific organization. Earlier this year, the General Assembly voted to request the NRC study whether a 119 million pound deposit of uranium ore in neighboring Pittsylvania County could be safely mined and milled, without risk to the environment.
Since the early 1980s, Virginia has had a moratorium on mining and milling in place, due to concerns as to whether it could be done safely.
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.
WWW.WPCVA.COM: Uranium dust a problem
Over the last 2 1/2 years I have been talking about the dust problem that would accompany the opening of an open-pit uranium mine in Pittsylvania County.
I have spoken about the low-level radioactive dust that would come with the blasting and the tailing piles.
(Low-level radiation accumulates in the body).
I have spoken to the supervisors probably a dozen times, with absolutely no results.
Phil Lovelace has spoken more often than I have about leakage of radioactive water from the holding ponds.
He also has received dumb looks from the supervisors.
*
In fact, one of them sometimes looks as if he is asleep.
In my opinion five of the supervisors have paid so little attention that it appears they work with Virginia Uranium.
NRC committee to meet to discuss uranium study | GoDanRiver
The National Research Council governing board’s executive committee will meet next month to discuss the study that would determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia.
The meeting will take place Nov. 10 in Washington and will be closed to the public, said Jennifer Walsh, spokeswoman for the National Academy of Sciences.
Walsh said she does not know if the committee will decide during next month’s meeting whether to approve the study.
Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. VUI, through Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research, would pay for the study’s first phase focusing on the technical and public-safety aspects of mining.
North Anna nuke reactor shut down by 'unusual event' | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Dominion Virginia Power shut down one of its two nuclear reactors at its North Anna power station Friday because of what the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission later deemed "an unusual event."
Unit 1 remained shut down this morning. Unit 2 at North Anna, about 45 miles northwest of Richmond along Lake Anna in Louisa County, continued to operate at full power today.
The Richmond-based utility notified the NRC one hour after the incident occurred Friday and later told the federal agency it had also notified the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. There was no indication whether local authorities in Louisa or any other surrounding counties had been notified by the utility.
Areva closing Lynchburg plant -- dailypress.com
The company building a new facility in Newport News to build components for nuclear reactors has decided to end its fuel-assembly production in Lynchburg and expand its operations in Richland, Wash.
Areva said this week it will consolidate the two operations, resulting in a job loss of about 150 in Lynchburg. Areva has operated the Washington facility for 40 years. Areva spokeswoman Judy Thomas told the Tri-City Herald, a newspaper based in Kennewick, Wash., that the 150 employees in Lynchburg will be given first choice for 50 new jobs in Richland, where Areva has 700 employees.
The French-owned energy service company announced last year it will build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant at Idaho Falls, Idaho. It will produce a raw material for the Richland plant to turn into fuel assemblies for nuclear reactors.
Areva plans to open its Newport News manufacturing plant, a joint venture with Northrop Grumman, by 2011 on the James River waterfront near the shipyard.
Areva, Northrop Grumman break ground on Virginia nuclear facility
Areva and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding broke ground Wednesday on the first manufacturing facility for heavy commercial nuclear reactor components to be built in the US in 35 years. Michael Rencheck, CEO of Areva NP, said in an interview that once operational in mid-2012, the plant will turn out all of the heavy components needed for one Evolutionary Power Reactor a year. That involves a reactor vessel, four steam generators, and four reactor coolant pumps, he said. The plant will be built on Northrop Grumman property in Newport News, Virginia. The joint venture represents a $360 million investment and will have a global market, supplying heavy components for future EPR reactors in the US and other EPR projects, according to Rencheck. UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture of Constellation Energy and France's EDF Group, is seeking a license from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate an EPR at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland.
NRC: NRC Activates Incident Response Centers After Alert Declared at B&W in Lynchburg, Va.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission manned Incident Response Centers in Atlanta and Rockville, Md., Wednesday night, dispatched its resident inspector and called in criticality safety experts to monitor an alert declared at B&W Nuclear Operations Group in Lynchburg, Va. An alert is the lowest level of NRC emergency classifications for fuel facilities such as B&W.
The NRC staff continued to monitor the incident, which began at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday until its successful resolution at 12:35 a.m. Thursday.
B&W staff activated the facility’s Emergency Operations Center after identifying a potential criticality issue in the Uranium Recovery area. A criticality can occur when highly enriched uranium comes together in sufficient quantity or in a container of correct shape to initiate a chain reaction resulting in either a “burst” or a sustained release of radiation.
Feds investigate uranium accident at Lynchburg B&W plant | WSLS 10
A trace of uranium found in a container of oil Wednesday night prompted several hours of concern at the Babcock & Wilcox facility on Mt. Athos Road.
The company notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it had found uranium in an unexpected location and began emergency procedures around 7:45 p.m., according to an NRC event report. At 12:35 a.m. today B&W said the situation was safe.
Roger Hannah, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said a B&W employee saw traces of uranium in a container of oil. The oil had been used in a saw that cuts fuel components.
Official seeks funding for uranium study | GoDanRiver
While the commonwealth waits for a study to begin to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the state, the head of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission is seeking funding for the study.
So far, the sole entity that has expressed willingness to pay for the study is Virginia Uranium Inc., said Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-1st District, chairman of the VCEC.
“They’re the only ones who have offered funding,” Kilgore said, adding that he will try to obtain funding from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, the Piedmont Environmental Council or other organizations.
The commission is responsible for arranging financing of the study. The VCEC’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee approved the first part of the study, which is expected to cover the technical aspects of mining and milling, in May. Kilgore said the study’s first portion would cost about $1.2 million. The second phase, which would cover uranium’s economic impact but has not yet been approved by the subcommittee, will cost about $500,000, Kilgore said.
WPCVA: Uranium tearing county apart
I grow weary of this constant belittling enveloping this county.
What happened to the days of "Hi Neighbor"?
We now have a large issue that makes most of us turn on one another. Over what? Money, jobs, maybe's.
Churches are torn apart, friendships are destroyed forever. Women cry and wring their hands. Many people don't know where to go or what to do.
The majority of people in this county do not want anything to do with this uranium! Check the numbers, please!
People write letters pro and con. Some say leave Walter Coles and Henry Bowen alone.
*
The people trying to stop this are non-progressive and trying to scare everyone.
Uranium Mine Could Use Three Billion Gallons Of Water Per Year | The Gazette-Virginian
The proposed uranium mining and milling project planned for the Chatham area could take more than three billion gallons of water per year from the Roanoke River Basin.
Speaking before the Roanoke River Bi-State Commission at its meeting in Henderson, N.C., last week, Anne Cockrell of Danville reported the figures to the group. (See related letter to the editor on today’s opinion page)
According to Cockrell’s figures, if the mine and mill are opened and operated 365 days a year, 3,181,952,360 gallons of water will be used each year.
She pointed out Virginia Uranium has projected a 30 to 40-year lifespan for the proposed mining operation. Water sources close to the site, she said, include the Banister and Roanoke Rivers.
VA: Area residents visit uranium site
As a Pittsylvania native and one who spent 40 years in the chemical industry, I have found it embarrassing to admit to friends that I knew very little about uranium, the element, and nothing about its source and processing. When it was announced that the largest deposit of uranium in the United States was discovered in Pittsylvania County, I was excited, as anyone with scientific curiosity should be.
I had hoped factual details concerning this discovery, as well as some development plans, would be forthcoming in an understandable way. However, it seems that some newspapers rarely feel any obligation or responsibility to pass on scientific facts; residents seeking such information must find other venues.
That's just what my family and I did, and a report of our experience may encourage others who are interested in such facts to do the same thing. The website for Virginia Uranium is www.virginiauranium.com, and it lists the company's contact number, 434-432-1065. Upon calling this number, I was told they welcomed visits at any time, but preferred scheduling visitors in groups.
I telephoned six friends, who were free on short notice, and together we attended an informational presentation at VUI last week.
Virginia and the Nuclear Renaissance | Lynchburg News Advance
Perhaps, in retrospect, the day John Fees left Central Virginia and headed to Houston to take the reins of McDermott International will be one of the red-letter days in the region’s business history.
Fees, you may remember, was the long-time president of B&W, the nuclear services company owned by McDermott. He took with him to Texas an in-depth knowledge of the skills, work ethic and abilities of the 2,500 people B&W employs in the region, and that’s paying off in major ways for Lynchburg.
Last week at a news conference in Washington at the National Press Club, Fees and his top lieutenants announced the company was undertaking a brand-new nuclear initiative that would have a major presence in Lynchburg.
Uranium mining study is a fine beginning | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
As work begins on a study of uranium mining in Virginia, it's becoming clearer what that study will do and what it won't.
It will answer some questions about the effect similar mining operations have on health and safety. It will likely generate new questions that require additional research. But it will not be the definitive word on whether uranium can be mined safely in Pittsylvania County or any other corner of the state.
Supporters say there are billions of dollars of uranium ore in the ground near Chatham. Many nearby residents tried to block the study, fearing lawmakers will use it as political cover to approve a venture that would churn out new tax revenues.
Virginia Beach leaders pressed for a sophisticated, comprehensive and expensive analysis on the potential risks to Lake Gaston, which lies downstream from the proposed site and provides drinking water to nearly 900,000 residents of Hampton Roads.
AG: Pittsylvania County cannot impose uranium mining ban | GoDanRiver
The state attorney general’s office says Pittsylvania County cannot impose a ban on uranium mining.
Late last month, the Board of Supervisors asked state Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, to seek an opinion from Virginia’s attorney general regarding the legality of a county ban on uranium mining. Hurt contacted the attorney general’s office on behalf of the board, said a lawyer there restated the office’s position expressed earlier.
NUCLEAR POWER: No More Reactors at North Anna | Richmond Times-Dispatch
The recent ruling of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond was short and to the point: "Virginia law requires regulation of Dominion's thermal pollution discharge because the exception for waste treatment simply doesn't apply here." With this ruling, a decades-old viola tion of the law was ended. The impact of the decision could benefit the many thousands of people who use Lake Anna annually.
Dominion's permit violated the law. In 2007 the Virginia Water Control Board approved a permit for Dominion Virginia Power to discharge hot water from its North Anna nuclear power plant into Lake Anna. The permit was illegal for several reasons.
Uranium safety priority leaves doubts | GoDanRiver
The Uranium Mining Subcommittee’s approval Thursday of the final draft of a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia drew a variety of reactions from local opponents and a supporter.
“We’re very gratified,” Patrick Wales, geologist and spokesman for Virginia Uranium Inc., said Friday. “An independent study of uranium mining and milling has been the one thing we’ve been proposing since the inception of our company.”
VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia currently has a moratorium on uranium mining.
Uranium study OK'd | Lynchburg News Advance
The uranium-mining study has begun. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee, tasked with overseeing a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the commonwealth, approved a revised final draft of the study Thursday.
But Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said he is disappointed with the decision. Marshall asked the subcommittee to post Thursday’s citizen input on its Web site and wait 60 days before deciding whether to approve the study.
“We’re not in a hurry to do this,” Marshall said during an interview before the meeting.
Subcommittee members pressed ahead after taking public comment, rearranging and adding amendments to the study’s 11-item “statement of task” before approving it by an 8-2 vote. Delegate William Janis, R-56th District and Delegate Watkins Abbitt, I-59th District, opposed.
Selected Tags
Related Tags
Sponsored Links
Top Contributors
Groups interested in va
-
VA SOL Science
Science Content Resources
Items: 1 | Visits: 18
Created by: Karla Karr
Highlighter, Sticky notes, Tagging, Groups and Network: integrated suite dramatically boosting research productivity. Learn more »
Join Diigo