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Britain’s Office for Nuclear Regulation warns on the need for a safety case, as EDF wants to extend the life of 2 nuclear power Stations

A spokesperson for the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said: “We are
aware of EDF’s announcement today (9 March 2023) of its intention to extend
the operating life of Heysham 1 and Hartlepool Power Stations.

“Although a plant life extension decision does not require formal regulatory
assessment or approval by ONR, it is a requirement of the site licence that
operations be carried out at all times under a valid safety case. “A
number of the current safety cases for the stations will need to be updated
to achieve EDF’s stated ambitions, together with investment in plant to
sustain equipment reliability, all while ensuring that the necessary people
and skills are on site.

“The ongoing safety of operations will need to be
fully demonstrated to us as part of the ongoing regulation of the sites in
Lancashire and Teesside, which will be informed though our extensive
inspection and assessment regime. “Once we receive them, the safety cases
from EDF will be thoroughly assessed by our team of expert inspectors.

ONR 9th March 2023

EDF announces operating life extensions for Heysham 1 and Hartlepool

March 12, 2023 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Graphite – deadly dirt or dusty diamonds?

Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group , 8 Mar 23, BANNG’s Coordinator Peter Banks exposes the hidden danger lurking on the Blackwater in the March 2023 column for Regional Life.   https://www.banng.info/news/regional-life/radioactive-graphite/

On the Southern shore of the Blackwater Estuary the shiny, grey/blue reactor buildings of the former Bradwell nuclear power station are now a landmark visible for many miles. The power station ceased operating in 2002 and now, in a state of ‘care and maintenance’, remains a visible monument to the early nuclear age.

Contained within the Bradwell buildings (and within all but one of the UK’s civil nuclear power stations) are blocks of graphite forming the very heart of the reactors, called the ‘core’. Once the reactor goes critical the graphite becomes impregnated (technically ‘irradiated’) with a range of radioactive isotopes such that it will remain dangerously contaminated for decades.

Back in the 1960s when Bradwell was commissioned, little forethought was given to the future when these behemoth plants would be taken out of service and decommissioned. The irradiated graphite was far too dangerous for humans to remove as stations were being demolished. Furthermore, the blocks were highly inaccessible as they were at the core of the sealed reactor vessel.

And the reactor chamber metalwork itself had also been irradiated. Recently the process of dismantling was given the new, self-explanatory name of ‘deferred decommissioning’ by the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA). Whilst this is totally understandable from a health and safety perspective, it does mean that the promises made when Bradwell closed in 2002 that the site would soon be cleared and returned to unrestricted land use were ridiculous.

And diamonds? If the graphite had also been subjected to great pressure as well as heat it would have converted to, amazingly, diamonds! But never think of the contents as precious diamonds, they are actually nasty radioactive wastes – a deadly dirt indeed.

Regardless, irradiated graphite and diamonds both need to be robustly protected. Therefore, expect to see the shiny reactor buildings of Bradwell for at least another 60 years. And, with nowhere else to go, they could remain on our shores into the unknown future.

March 12, 2023 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

EDF ordered to inspect 200 nuclear pipe weldings after more cracks discovered

By America Hernandez and Forrest Crellin, 10 Mar. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/edf-ordered-inspect-200-nuclear-pipe-weldings-after-more-cracks-discovered-2023-03-10/

PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) – France’s nuclear safety watchdog ASN has ordered energy utility EDF (EDF.PA) to inspect about 200 pipe weldings across its 56-nuclear reactor fleet after discovering three additional cracks this week, the regulator said on Friday.

In addition to a major corrosion-related crack on the Penly 1 reactor in Normandy revealed on Tuesday, which the watchdog attributed to faulty welding, two fissures on EDF’s Penly 2 reactor and the Cattenom 3 reactor in Moselle were disclosed on Thursday.

An EDF spokesperson declined to comment on ASN’s criticism, but said the two newer cracks were due to “thermal fatigue”, which happens when very hot and cold water meet inside pipes, causing the steel to dilate, contract and become more fragile over time.

EDF regularly inspects pipes via ultrasound for this phenomenon during maintenance, the spokesperson added.

The latest defects and watchdog scrutiny come as France and the Britain announced a new energy partnership on Friday to strengthen cooperation on nuclear power, including construction of power stations, innovation and safety.

Neither French President Emmanuel Macron nor British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned the nuclear operator’s latest setbacks after a bilateral summit.

“You are helping us secure our supply of nuclear power thanks to EDF’s incredible work,” Sunak told Macron.

EDF is building a new nuclear plant in Britain, Sizewell C, which has suffered from cost overruns and construction delays. A second plant, Hinkley Point C, is also in the works.

The utility’s Penly 2 and Cattenom 3 in France are part of a group of 16 reactors flagged by EDF as being susceptible to corrosion-related cracks due to a design flaw, and prioritised for checks in its inspection and maintenance plan.

That plan is now being updated to accommodate the additional check of 200 weldings, and will be published “in coming days”, EDF has said.

European forward-curve power prices rose sharply on Friday following the announcement of new cracks, after French nuclear output in 2022 fell to a 34-year low while EDF scrambled to fix stress corrosion issues at several sites.

“Some market participants may be worried that the issues with corrosion are trickier than first anticipated, and that EDF will struggle both long- and short-term to fix it and bring generation back to pre-2022 levels,” Rystad analyst Fabian Ronningen said.

March 12, 2023 Posted by | France, safety | Leave a comment

Pentagon delivers first long-range Patriot interceptors for Polish air defense system — Anti-bellum

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oWosgtMGEQM%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26start%3D118%26wmode%3Dtransparent

Polish RadioMarch 10, 2023 Poland receives first US missiles for Patriot air defence systems The first batch of PAC-3 MSE missiles for Polands Patriot air-defence systems has arrived in the country, its producer Lockheed Martin announced on Thursday. US defence contractor Lockheed Martin announced the delivery in a statement on Thursday…. The PAC-3 MSE (Patriot […]

Pentagon delivers first long-range Patriot interceptors for Polish air defense system — Anti-bellum

March 12, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

UK/NATO air combat exercise includes India, Saudi Arabia, Finland for first time — Anti-bellum

NATOAllied Air CommandMarch 9, 2023 Exercise Cobra Warrior underway in the United Kingdom The first iteration of the Royal Air Force-hosted multinational live-fly exercise Cobra Warrior 2023 is underway with air force detachments from the Belgium and the United States, as well as – for the first time – from Finland, India and Saudi Arabia. […]

UK/NATO air combat exercise includes India, Saudi Arabia, Finland for first time — Anti-bellum

March 12, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Kosovo participates in NATO multinational war games for “wide-area ground combat” throughout Europe — Anti-bellum

U.S. Army EuropeMarch 10, 2023 Press Release – Exercise Announcement for Dynamic Front 23 The 56th Artillery Command is set to conduct Dynamic Front 23 from March 13 to April 5, 2023, at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, and Oksboel Training Area, Denmark. More than 1,700 military personnel from 18 countries, including, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Romania, […]

Kosovo participates in NATO multinational war games for “wide-area ground combat” throughout Europe — Anti-bellum

March 12, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

China increasing the number of nuclear warheads, aiming to match USA’s nuclear arsenal

Moscow is cementing its alliance with Beijing through deliveries of highly
enriched uranium that are fuelling China’s race to match the nuclear
arsenal of the United States, the Pentagon has warned. President Xi’s
military chiefs are seeking nuclear parity with Washington by increasing
the number of nuclear warheads from the present estimated 350 to 400 to
1,500 by 2035.

That total would approximately equal the strategic nuclear
arsenal of the US, limited to 1,550 warheads by New Start, the only
remaining arms control treaty between the US and Russia, which President
Putin has announced could be abandoned.

Times 10th March 2023

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/putin-china-plutonium-nuclear-xwlzvjfwh

March 12, 2023 Posted by | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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