nuclear-news

Nuclear Power Stations which are listed as potentially impacted by defective Eaton Freedom Series Size 3, 4 and size 5 contacts/starters are Oconee in South Carolina, Shearon Harris near Raleigh North Carolina, Columbia in Washington State, Turkey Point near Miami Florida, North Anna in Virginia, near Washington DC, and Waterford near New Orleans, Louisiana. This was reported by AZZ, which recently purchased NLI (Nuclear Logistics Inc), and seems to want to come clean on these and other defects which they recently reported. However, these (and other) potentially defective parts may have been provided to other nuclear power stations by other companies, such as AREVA. Why isn’t Eaton issuing a direct recall?

About the defect:
“The safety function of the contactor is to reliably supply uninterrupted power (no contact chatter) to a load on demand. For special degraded voltage applications, the NLI supplied contactor is equipped with an NLI…

Opinion:

¶ “Diablo Canyon closure shows California’s power grid is changing
fast” • Pacific Gas and Electric Co’s surprise decision to shut down Diablo Canyon, the last nuclear plant in California, came after the company studied the future and realized that the massive facility would be an awkward fit. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

¶ “In Illinois, the nuclear age comes creaking to a halt” • Exelon is a $34.5 billion company that earned $2.2 billion last year. For two straight years, it has tried to convince Illinois lawmakers to cover its losses. Exelon wants a taxpayer supported handout of an estimated $170 million for each of the next six years. [STLtoday.com]

Science and Technology:

¶ An ecology professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage is leading a long-term project to examine seabirds, what they eat and how that…

Whatever you think of LGBT Pride, any honest person has to admit that it’s got nothing to do with nuclear regulation. With the US Nuclear Power Station “Fleet” falling apart due to a combination of old age and substandard components how is a LGBT Pride Luncheon a priority for the US NRC? WTF? Did they mispell Fukushima?

https://web.archive.org/web/20160411212754/http://www.nrc.gov/homepage/features.html
A new announcement was made by the French regulator ASN, on the 28th, indicating that they had additional concerns about potential defects-flaws in Areva-Le Creusot steam generators. These may impact US nuclear power stations but the NRC apparently lacks the time or inclination to write about that, even though the French made it easy by offering an English translation. https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/asn-possible-defects-in-areva-creusot-steam-generator-channel-heads-may-impact-countries-in-both-hemisperes-including-the-usa-us-nrc-snoozes/

But, the NRC has time to both have a LGBT Pride Luncheon AND write about it!

The French are working. The US NRC is having luncheons and blowing off risks.

Substandard components…