nuclear-news

Safety , cost, problems, as nuclear reactors age

Special Report: Energy The Dilemma of Aging Nuclear Plants The New York Times by PATRICIA BRETT October 19, 2009 “……….

A large part of the world’s installed nuclear power capacity is now coming to the end of that designed life span.

Caught between approaching retirement deadlines and public opposition to new plants, industry operators are pushing to extend the life of their plants to 60 or even 80 years — and this despite problems of premature aging of major components that have already obliged many to replace their plants’ steam generators at heavy capital expense.

Running plants longer is one way to recoup the extra cost and raise returns on investment over the full life of the plant. But it has safety implications…………

Extending plant life rests on the premise that operators run their plants abstemiously. But utilities, under pressure to maximize short-term profit, are constantly tempted to operate at high output, raising the burn-up of nuclear fuel.

Since the 1970s, regulators and operators have identified premature aging problems including vibrations in pipes, with consequent cracking, leaks and ruptures that in turn cause severe corrosion, leading to worse leaks and ruptures……….Cracks in vessel heads, the lids that cover reactor vessels, were discovered in various reactors around the world as long ago as 1991, French and U.S. regulatory documents show……N.R.C. documents show, design flaws identified in 1991 raise the specter of possible long-term fatigue degradation in the reactor vessels themselves due to the heat and high radiation to which they are subjected. A leak in the reactor vessel would result in a core meltdown — the most serious accident possible — with an inevitable release of radioactive material………..
E.D.F. said Elizabeth Pozzi, an operating technician at the Dampierre nuclear plant, near Orléans,i, is “not doing anything illegal, but they’re using every loophole to push the maintenance boundaries as far as possible. If that’s already the case at 30 years, what will it be like at 60?”

Special Report – Energy – The Dilemma of Aging Nuclear Plants – NYTimes.com

October 20, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, business and costs, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radioactive