Covid 19 and government responses are affecting nuclear construction world-wide
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The restrictions on travel, public gatherings and certain business operations introduced by the USA and other jurisdictions in response to the novel coronavirus have significantly disrupted economic activity in the service territories of Southern Company’s utility subsidiaries and have caused volatility in capital markets, it said in its 1 April financial filing. “The effects of the continued outbreak of COVID-19 and related government responses could include extended disruptions to supply chains and capital markets, reduced labour availability and productivity and a prolonged reduction in economic activity,” it said. “These effects could have a variety of adverse impacts on the company and its subsidiaries, including reduced demand for energy, particularly from commercial and industrial customers, impairment of goodwill or long-lived assets and impairment of the ability of the company and its subsidiaries to develop, construct and operate facilities and to access funds from financial institutions and capital markets. In particular, these effects could disrupt or delay construction, testing, supervisory and support activities at Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4.” The units’ licensee, Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc, has implemented policies and procedures designed to mitigate the risk of transmission at the construction site, including worker distancing measures, isolating individuals who are showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, being tested for COVID-19 or who have been in close contact with such persons, requiring self-quarantine and adopting additional precautionary measures, the company said. “It is too early to determine what impact, if any, the COVID-19 outbreak will have on the current construction schedule or budget for Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4,” it added. Rosatom General Director Alexey Likhachov said on 1 April the company was working to give Rosatom personnel working on construction sites abroad the chance to return home. “Everyone will be given the opportunity to return in the very next few days,” he said. According to World Nuclear Association, seven Russian-designed reactors are currently under construction in Belarus, India, Bangladesh and Turkey. Likhachov also said that the entire operational staff working in the control rooms at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant have been isolated after an employee fell ill with coronavirus. All employees from the five duty shifts now living separately from families in a local clinic, and travel to the plant by special transport, he said. |
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Nuclear Plant Transfer to go on Despite Coronavirus Concerns
Nuclear Plant Transfer to go on Despite Coronavirus Concerns https://www.capecod.com/newscenter/nuclear-plant-transfer-to-go-on-despite-coronavirus-concerns/April 5, 2020 PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Plans to transfer radioactive spent fuel at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth to steel-lined dry casks will go on as scheduled despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Pilgrim permanently shut down last May and was subsequently sold by Entergy Corp. to Holtec International for decommissioning.
There have been concerns about moving the fuel during the pandemic because some of the workers brought in to do the job were from out of state.
A Holtec spokesman says the company understands the concerns and in response, some workers were sent home and requested to self-quarantine for two weeks prior to beginning the work.
Sizewell C nuclear project: community has lost faith in the integrity of EDF
 East Anglian Daily Times (not on web) 3rd April 2020, John Rea Price: Community has lost faith in the integrity of EDF.So EDF has generously agreed to defer their application for planning consent “by a few weeks”, actually for just a month the website of the Planning Inspectorate suggests.
Mr Cadoux Hudson of EDF goes on to promise that more
time would be given for people to register as participants in the public examination. What he didn’t say is that this will be an extremely formal and legalistic process with very little opportunity for genuine engagement by members of the community and is thus a meaningless concession. He goes on to say that over eight years of public consultation EDF has tried hard to be transparent. He doesn’t seem to appreciate that the community has experienced its efforts as truculent and dismissive.
Despite repeated demands at each of the four stage of public consultation it has, in particular, failed to provide any evidence of substance and quality on the probable cumulative environmental impact of its development on this
uniquely sensitive landscape and coastline. The consequence has been that communities that were not in principle opposed to Sizewell C have become its bitterest opponents. Such is the loss of any faith in the integrity of EDF that many now believe that it will exploit the opportunity of this grave national crisis to drive its application forward as aggressively as possible.
It will thus seek to minimise the depth of scrutiny that its very
complex proposals demand at a time when statutory agencies, county, district and parish councils, conservation bodies and community groups have the least capacity to undertake this. https://www.eadt.co.uk/news |
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Russia’s response to coronavirus risk for nuclear stations – isolate the nuclear workforce
Russia’s nuclear workers isolated onsite as coronavirus spreads, Bellona, April 3, 2020 by Charles Digges, charles@bellona.no
Workers at Russia’s nuclear power plants will be isolated from the general public and required to live in onsite clinics at their respective stations as nuclear authorities tighten their response to the coronavirus after a number of industry infections.
The order came Tuesday from Rosenergoatom, Russia’s nuclear utility, and specified that both primary and back up crews of nuclear technicians, who “facilitate process continuity” would now be required check in to dispensaries at their plants, where they would be provided with daily living essentials and isolated from outside contact.
Rosenergoatom, which is a subsidiary of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, is responding to a Tuesday video address by Andrei Likhachev, the corporation’s CEO, which outlined the isolation measures.
Earlier this week, Likhachev confirmed that four Rosatom employees had tested positive for the coronavirus, the spread of which has all but ground the world economy to a halt as the number of those infected worldwide surpasses 1 million.
Russians have been told to stay home through next week on a government ordered holiday. There have been 4,149 cases of coronavirus reported by Moscow as of Friday, 34 of which have resulted in death. In his address, Likhachev asked all Rosatom employees who could feasibly work remotely had been asked to do so, though he said the corporation’s overseas reactor building projects would continue.
Rosenergoatom’s unprecedented steps to protect highly skilled nuclear specialists from falling ill from the virus mirror measures other countries are taking for their own workers to avoid power interruptions or outright plant shutdowns.
In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering isolating its own workers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, while France – the world’s most nuclear-dependent nation – is weighing staff cuts of its own. Both France and the United Kingdom have shut down a number of their nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities in response to a spike in local infections
Rosenergoatom didn’t make clear precisely how many of Russia’s nuclear workers have been put in isolation, but its parent company Rosatom controls a sprawling network of reactors, laboratories, commercial structures and fuel fabrication facilities that employ some 250,000 people…….
Workers at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant, 1,800 kilometers to Moscow’s east, have already been working in isolation for more than a week, after the wife of one of the plant’s technicians tested positive for the virus. https://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2020-04-russias-nuclear-workers-isolated-onsite-as-coronavirus-spreads
Sailors on nuclear aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt applaud their fired captain
Videos have emerged on social media showing sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt giving their fired captain a rousing sendoff as he left the ship.
Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of duty for a “loss of confidence” following the leak of a letter in which he advocated for stronger measures to protect his crew from an outbreak of coronavirus aboard the ship.
The videos show hundreds of sailors gathered in the ship’s hangar clapping and cheering loudly for Crozier as he walked down a ramp towards the pier in Guam where the ship is docked. ……
In one of the videos capturing that moment, voices can be heard saying “We love you, too!” and “Thank you skipper!”
Later, the ship’s crew is heard rhythmically clapping and chanting, “CAPTAIN! CROZIER!”
Earlier on Thursday, Crozier was relieved of duty by acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly who said he had lost confidence in his leadership abilities following the leak of a letter where Crozier advocated for stronger measures to protect his ship’s crew from further infection by the coronavirus.
Modly said Crozier had expressed valid concerns for the safety of his ship but had exercised “poor judgment” in distributing the letter to senior commanders to a broad group of people when he could have expressed his concerns to the admiral aboard the carrier.
In the letter Crozier advocated Navy leaders to speed up the removal of the nearly 5,000 sailors aboard the carrier to appropriate accommodations on Guam that met social distancing guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The day after the letter appeared in the San Francisco Examiner the Navy announced that 2,700 of the ship’s crew were being brought ashore and that suitable housing would be found in hotel rooms on the island. …..https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sailors-aircraft-carrier-give-fired-captain-rousing-sendoff/story?id=69957655
Work at Limerick nuclear plant threatened by rising Coronavirus death toll in Montgomery County
Montco coronavirus deaths at 12; officials  ‘concerned’ about work at Limerick nuclear plant, The Mercury, By Carl Hessler Jr. chessler@21st-centurymedia.com 4 Apr 20, EAGLEVILLE — The coronavirus death toll in Montgomery County rose to 12 on Thursday as officials reported the deaths of two more people, residents of Upper Providence and Springfield townships…..
Officials said there were 113 new positive cases of the virus reported on Thursday, bringing the county’s total number of cases to 707 since March 7. The new cases included residents from 35 municipalities, two of which reported their first cases – Bridgeport Borough and Red Hill Borough. To date, 55 of the county’s 62 municipalities have reported coronavirus cases. The new cases in the county included at least 48 men and 62 women whose ages ranged from 1 month to 94. Six of the individuals are hospitalized, officials said Arkoosh said county officials continue to be in contact with Exelon representatives regarding the county’s concerns that social distancing measures were “perhaps not being adhered to” during a maintenance refueling project involving more than 1,000 workers that began last month at the Limerick Generating Station operated by Exelon near Pottstown. The county’s Office of Public Health is currently reviewing information that it received from Exelon in response to questions the commissioners posed to company officials on Wednesday. The information is helpful and I remain deeply concerned that this maintenance refueling will ultimately contribute to the number of people that are exposed to the coronavirus in our region,” said Arkoosh, who was joined at the news briefing by fellow commissioners Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. and Joseph C. Gale, and Dr. Alvin Wang, regional EMS medical director, and Dr. Brenda Weis, administrator of the Office of Public Health. Without being specific, Arkoosh said the information provided by Exelon generated more questions by the county and officials are awaiting answers to those questions….. On Wednesday, Exelon officials confirmed two cases of COVID-19 among the workforce at the Limerick plant, adding the full-time employees were sent home and were receiving care and that neither employee had been onsite since March 20. Company officials added that any employees who came in close contact with the affected persons or worked at that reporting location were notified, and that an additional deep cleaning occurred at all areas that potentially were exposed. Arkoosh said officials believe they were misled about the start date of the refueling project. “We were always told March 30. An (event of public interest alert) went out on March 27 saying that they were starting that evening. We’ve also been told by others that there were quite a large number of people here for a number of days before that,” Arkoosh said. County officials have requested the permanent address and the lodging information for all of the contractors hired to work on the refueling project. “We received information back from Exelon on about 950 of those individuals. They are staying all over the area…some people are driving from other states every day. It’s quite a lot,” Arkoosh said. Officials said the contractors, many of whom travel from one generating plant to another to work on refueling projects, are staying locally at AirBnBs, private homes, campsites, hotels and other rental units. “I believe that they have an obligation to not only the families of these workers but to whatever community they’ll be going to next to do a refuel, that these individuals should be sequestered for 14 days before they leave here so that at least when they leave they can be fairly assured that they have no disease,” Arkoosh explained. County officials said they are concerned that contractors where coming from other states into the county which was an area of community spread of COVID-19. Arkoosh said that situation could put the workforce at the Limerick plant at risk as well as local first responders…….. https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/montco-coronavirus-deaths-at-12-officials-concerned-about-work-at-limerick-nuclear-plant/article_dd37f986-7522-11ea-8daa-73c6d383e3e3.html |
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Worker fatigue is a worry at U.S. nuclear stations, as NRC allows longer shifts
 US allowing longer shifts at nuclear plants in pandemic, Taiwan News, By ELLEN KNICKMEYER , Associated Press, Associated Press
2020/04/03 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. nuclear plants will be allowed to keep workers on longer shifts to deal with staffing problems in the coronavirus pandemic, raising worries among watchdogs and some families living near reactors that employee exhaustion will increase the risks of accidents.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to temporarily allow longer worker shifts is one way the industry is scrambling to keep up mandatory staffing levels through what will be weeks or months more of the outbreak. The shift extensions would allow workers to be on the job for up to 86 hours a week. Currently, they’re generally allowed to work up to 72 hours in a seven-day period. As part of the waiver, workers could be assigned to 12-hour shifts for as many as 14 days in a row. Nuclear plant workers already are having their temperatures checked on arrival for each shift, and employers are studying options including having workers temporarily live at plants full-time…… “This is highly specialized work that needs a lot of attention and focus,” Treat, a nuclear safety activist, said by telephone. It’s a problem, she said, “if people are fatigued or sick….. The NRC closely regulates total staffing and staff hours as a condition of reactors’ continued operation. Fatigue has often been deemed a factor in accidents at nuclear plants, as in the former Soviet Union’s 1986 Chernobyl disaster, where key plant staffers had worked multiple shifts. In the United States in recent days, nuclear plants are reporting some of the first coronavirus cases among their workers. Over the weekend, the NRC said it would consider on a plant-by-plant basis 60-day exemptions that would let plants keep workers on the job for up to 86 hours in a seven-day period, including up to 12 hours a day for 14 days straight. No plant had received a work-hour waiver as of Thursday, regulators said……. But Edwin Lyman, a nuclear power expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists watchdog group, called proposals like Basso’s “alarming.” “I hope that the NRC will conduct due diligence on industry claims that the best way to reduce the potential for COVID-19 spread among its personnel is to force them to work fourteen 12-hour days in a row,” he said in an email. He called that solution likely “untenable.” If a plant fails to keep up minimum staffing requirements in the pandemic, regulators could order it to shut down, something that has happened rarely, if ever, to an operating plant, regulators said. Besides the kind of crew consolidation Basso described, individual nuclear plants also are looking at the possibility of bringing former plant operators back into service. Another option is sequestering crews on site — keeping workers fed and bunked down at the plants during the pandemic, NEI spokeswoman Mary Love said…… https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3909533 |
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US Navy fires captain who sought help for coronavirus-stricken nuclear aircraft carrier
 US Navy fires captain who sought help for coronavirus-stricken ship, ABC News, 3 Apr 20 The US Navy has fired the captain of an aircraft carrier who faced a growing outbreak of the new coronavirus on his ship, saying he created a panic by sending his memo pleading for help to too many people.
Key points:
In a four-page memo to Navy leaders, the captain of the nuclear-powered warship said the spread of the disease was ongoing and accelerating, and said that removing all but 10 per cent of the crew was a “necessary risk” in order to stop the spread of the virus. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the ship’s commander Brett Crozier “demonstrated extremely poor judgment” in the middle of a crisis……. That decision was immediately condemned by members of the House Armed Services Committee, who called it a “destabilising move” that would “likely put our service members at greater risk and jeopardise our fleet’s readiness”. ….. Captain Crozier graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1992 and later attended the Nuclear Power School, a prerequisite to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The USS Theodore Roosevelt, with a crew of nearly 5,000, is docked in Guam, and the Navy has said as many as 3,000 people will be taken off the ship and quarantined by Friday. More than 100 sailors on the ship have tested positive for the virus, but none have been hospitalised. ….. Democrats in support of Captain CrozierDemocrats on the House committee issued a joint statement in support of Captain Crozier. They said that while the captain went outside his chain of command, the pandemic presented a new set of challenges. “Captain Crozier was justifiably concerned about the health and safety of his crew, but he did not handle the immense pressure appropriately,” the statement said. Captain Crozier, in his memo, raised warnings the ship was facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus and asked permission to isolate the bulk of his crew members on shore, an extraordinary move to take a carrier out of duty in an effort to save lives. He said that removing all but 10 per cent of the crew would be a “necessary risk” in order to stop the spread of the virus. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset: our sailors,” Captain Crozier wrote. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-03/navy-fires-captain-who-sought-help-for-coronavirus-stricken-ship/12117534 |
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UK ‘s new nuclear projects further delayed
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Nuclear project planning hit by delays, Construction News, 02 APR 2020 BY MILES ROWLAND DECISIONS ON FUTURE NUCLEAR BUILDS HAVE BEEN PUSHED BACK AT THREE POTENTIAL NEW SITES DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS.The planning process for Wylfa Newydd, Sizewell C and Bradwell B have all been delayed by periods ranging from weeks to months.
A decision on Horizon Nuclear’s application for a development consent order (DCO) for Wylfa Newydd – the shelved nuclear project in Anglesey, North Wales – has been pushed back by six months by the government, from 31 March to 30 September. This is the second such delay for the decision, the original deadline for which was 23 October last year. While the project was put on hold over funding issues, Horizon, a subsidiary of Hitachi, had been hopeful the project could restart following the decision and the approval of a new funding model. A statement from the Planning Inspectorate said: “The secretary of state has concluded that an additional period of time is required in order to complete his consideration in respect of environmental effects and other issues which were outstanding following the examination.”…… Decisions on future nuclear builds have been pushed back at three potential new sites due to the coronavirus crisis. The planning process for Wylfa Newydd, Sizewell C and Bradwell B have all been delayed by periods ranging from weeks to months. A decision on Horizon Nuclear’s application for a development consent order (DCO) for Wylfa Newydd – the shelved nuclear project in Anglesey, North Wales – has been pushed back by six months by the government, from 31 March to 30 September. This is the second such delay for the decision, the original deadline for which was 23 October last year. While the project was put on hold over funding issues, Horizon, a subsidiary of Hitachi, had been hopeful the project could restart following the decision and the approval of a new funding model. A statement from the Planning Inspectorate said: “The secretary of state has concluded that an additional period of time is required in order to complete his consideration in respect of environmental effects and other issues which were outstanding following the examination.”……. EDF and Horizon Nuclear have also been awaiting a decision from the government on whether the regulated asset base model could be used to fund nuclear projects, following a consultation in October. The model requires developers to spend less upfront and instead raise cash through consumer bills. A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said a decision would be made “in due course”. Meanwhile, the public consultation for Bradwell B in Essex, which began last month, is to be extended by five weeks. The project is introducing new ways for the community to participate in the consultation online and on the phone, as well as allowing people to book 20-minute discussions with nuclear experts to answer questions throughout April. Ground-surveying works are continuing on site at Bradwell B, and the project is awaiting a decision from the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency on its design for the UK HPR1000 – a third-generation pressurised water reactor.
Last week EDF announced it was cutting its workforce on Hinkley Point C by more than half, and implemented a range of measures to encourage social distancing after criticism that its actions there had been insufficient. A spokesman declined to state whether this could cause delays to the project. It is due to be completed in either 2025 or 2026. https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/civils/nuclear-project-planning-hit-by-delays-02-04-2020/ |
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Problems of New England nuclear reactors most are offline
Most NE nuclear power offline due to timing fluke and problem, CT Mirror, CAll but unnoticed as the coronavirus pandemic tears through the Northeast: the New England power grid is without 75% of its nuclear power – with more to go. by JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL, APRIL 3, 2020
Many nuclear power plants schedule refueling operations in spring and fall when electricity demand is lower, and that is the case in New England, where the three remaining nuclear plants typically supply about one-third of the electricity. The Seabrook Nuclear plant in New Hampshire went offline on Tuesday for its refueling – that’s 1,245 megawatts of power. Unit 2 of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, with about 870 megawatts, is due for refueling this spring as well.
But in the meantime, Millstone Unit 3, which carries about 1,230 megawatts , tripped offline less than a day after the Seabrook shutdown due to a circuit fault between the main generator and the switchyard, according to Kenneth Holt, spokesman for the plant’s owner Dominion Energy. The automatic reactor protection system kicked in as it was supposed to and the plant was shut down.
As of Friday noon, the grid mix showed nuclear at 8% and natural gas at a whopping 68%.
While the situation is abnormal and the timing with the health emergency a fluke, it does not pose any special risks for the region, especially since the demand for power is lower than normal because so much commerce and industry has temporarily shut down. ……
Nuclear plants have some wiggle room, but not a lot, for refueling. In the case of Millstone, each unit is refueled every 18 months in an alternating rotation. Unit 3, the one offline now, is due for refueling in the fall. Refueling takes about one month during which one-third of the plant’s nuclear rods, which are about one foot-by-one foot by 12 to 14 feet long, are replaced. They last about 4.5 years.
……….. https://ctmirror.org/2020/04/03/most-ne-nuclear-power-offline-due-to-timing-fluke-and-problem/
Sweden’s Vattenfall AB’s 44-year-old Ringhals-1 shut down, as energy prices fall
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) may exempt some nuclear stations from work-hour controls
NRC to Consider COVID-19 Exemptions for Nuclear Plant Work-Hour Controls https://www.powermag.com/nrc-to-consider-covid-19-exemptions-for-nuclear-plant-work-hour-controls– Sonal Patel , POWER senior associate editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine). 30 Mar 20,
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on March 28 told industry that it is prepared to grant requests from individual nuclear generators for exemptions from work-hour controls specified in its rules to help provide more flexibility to the sector as it grapples with workforce issues related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The objective of the exemptions from Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 26.205(d)(1)-(7)) is to ensure that the “control of work hours and management of worker fatigue do not unduly limit licensee flexibility in using personnel resources to most effectively manage the impacts of the COVID-19 [public health emergency (PHE)] on maintaining the safe operation of these facilities,” NRC Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Ho Nieh wrote in letters sent to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Entergy Nuclear, and Florida Power and Light over the weekend.
Nieh wrote that the exemptions will apply narrowly—only to nuclear plants whose staffing levels are affected by the pandemic. Licensees must also show they can no longer meet the work-hour controls outlined in the rules, and they can institute site-specific administrative controls for pandemic fatigue-management for personnel as outlined in the rules.
Alternative fatigue-management controls, for example, should ensure employees do not work more than 16 work-hours in any 24-hour period and not more than 86 work-hours in any 7-day period, excluding shift turnover; a minimum 10-hour break is provided between successive work periods; 12 hour shifts are limited to not more than 14 consecutive days; and a minimum of six days off are provided in any 30-day period.
Nuclear licensees that cannot meet the rule’s requirements should notify the NRC in writing, including by email, no less than 24 hours before they would be out of compliance with the rules, Nieh said. The NRC plans to consider requests on a case-by-case basis and, if approved, provide exemptions for a period of 60 days. “If the COVID-19 PHE condition does not improve before expiration of the exemption, then the NRC may consider an additional exemption period,” he added.
(This story is being updated; check back later for more details.)
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USA nuclear industry uses coronavirus to gouge $billions of tax-payer money
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Out of control?, While industry looks for handouts, NRC gives nod to reduced safety oversight, https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/72759838/posts/2643325963By Linda Pentz Gunter 29 Mar 20, It was no surprise really, when the first to line up with outstretched palms as Congress debated and formulated its now passed $2 trillion coronavirus-prompted emergency relief bill, were nuclear corporations.The sinking nuclear power industry spotted an economic lifeline and couldn’t wait to make a grab for it. The Nuclear Energy Institute, the lobbying arm of the nuclear power industry, rushed off a letter to congressional leaders asking for a 30% tax credit and waivers for existing regulatory fees. One of NEI’s apparently needy recipients is the financial fiasco known as Vogtle 3 and 4, the new nuclear power plant construction project in Georgia, which is already more than five years behind schedule and is projected to cost $28 billion, double the original predicted price. The two new Georgia reactors aren’t needed, and their continued slow progress is by no means a matter of national security right now — or at all. But the NEI would like to see a nice fat grant go to Georgia Power to continue construction there, even though the company has already received two federal loan guarantees totaling $12 billion. In addition, the company is also gouging ratepayers in advance to cover the costs for the two reactors through the state’s Construction Work in Progress law, with no guarantee that they will ever reach completion. Before long, the nuclear weapons manufacturers got in on the act as well. Wrote the group, Code Pink: “Boeing has the audacity to demand a $60 billion taxpayer bailout for their shareholders and CEO.” Boeing is responsible for the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, to be replaced this year with the misleadingly named Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. Boeing has also already received a $26.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy for Trident II D5 ballistic missile maintenance, rebuilding and technical services. Astonishingly, it was ultra conservative senator, Ted Cruz, who was one of those who pushed back against the corporate bailouts for the likes of Boeing and GE, manufacturer of the ill-fated Fukushima nuclear power plants and similar boiling water reactors in the US that are meltdowns waiting to happen. Cruz tweeted that “some are pushing for a special carve-out just for Boeing & GE. That would be WRONG. Millions are losing jobs; we don’t need bailouts or corporate welfare — those companies should participate in the same liquidity programs as everyone else.” But Boeing apparently got its wish. A $17 billion federal loan package contained in the stimulus bill passed by both the House and Senate and signed by President Trump on March 27, “was crafted largely for the company’s benefit,” according to reporting in the Washington Post. Boeing may also be able to dip its fingers into the “$58 billion the Senate package is providing in loans for cargo and passenger airlines, as well as the $425 billion in loans it is allocating to help firms, states and cities hurt by the current downturn,” wrote the Washington Post, even though, as Code Pink pointed out, alluding to the two 737 MAX disasters, Boeing is responsible for “defective civilian planes that plummet from the sky in mid-flight.” Boeing shares soared more than 24% on the day the Senate bill passed. The US is already spending $35.1 billion a year on its nuclear weapons arsenal. As the timely graph below [on original] from ICAN points out, this money could be redirected to a wealth of essential needs that would help quell the novel coronavirus in the US. … It’s not yet clear what portion of the stimulus money might go to the nuclear power industry, but the renewable energy sector took a hit. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, “the renewable energy industry had asked for — but did not get — extensions of deadlines related to construction or completion of solar and wind projects, without which they could lose access to time-sensitive tax credits. Industry associations were hopeful they’d be included in any later relief package.” There is also a $400 billion slush fund in the present legislation which can be used for loans and loan guarantees for large companies. Watch for the nuclear power industry to line up for a share of that in addition to its earlier pitch for a $23 billion bailout, which Lukas Ross, senior policy analyst with Friends of the Earth, called “a new low bar,,” and an attempt to use the coronavirus crisis “to try and brazenly grab more cash.” Meanwhile, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in its usual fashion, has used the opportunity presented by the corona crisis to relax its already somnific safety oversight even more, and will allow nuclear power plant operators to defer safety maintenance, inspections and fitness for duty requirements during the outbreak. “Regulations to ensure safety should be strengthened at a time like this — not weakened,” Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, told Power Magazine. “It means operating nuclear plants without basic safety inspections.” One measure would be to allow workers to put in longer shifts than safety regulations allow, a measure that would place unnecessary additional “stress and strain on workers that need to be fully attentive and alert in sensitive jobs,” Kamps told the Carolina Public Press. He recommended powering down reactors instead, particularly given the current reduction in demand. But if the coronavirus pandemic causes higher than usual absenteeism among vital nuclear plant personnel, the NRC has a plan for that. Under normal circumstances, operating with too few control room staff is a safety violation. But under the coronavirus conditions, this would be exempted, or forgiven by the NRC, creating an added safety risk. During a recent NRC and industry telephone meeting on the topic, Beyond Nuclear’s director of reactor oversight, Paul Gunter, asked whether the NRC had supplied its reactor site personnel with sufficient protective equipment, masks, and respirators, as per the Centers for Disease Control guidelines. “They blew it off, Gunter said. “They claimed it was a matter for OSHA.” Industry representatives on the call remained silent on the matter. Gunter added that Kamps’s suggestion to power down reactors in regions where the demand was reduced and excess generating capacity was already high, could allow for resting the remaining workforce and keeping them healthy and ready to replace workers at still operating plants where personnel have been hit hardest by reactor operator shortages and extended security shifts. “We should be planning on how to keep stable and safety-compliant electricity going,” Gunter said. “One way would be to create a protected pool of sequestered nuclear utility workers. But that is not happening. The industry is dictating to the regulator what the agenda will be.” So, business as usual. |
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EDF, French company building Hinkley Point power station, shifts workers’ costs to UK govt
Coronavirus: EDF to furlough Hinkley Point workers after reducing site numbers, Edward Thicknesse CITY A.M. 29 Mar 20, Hundreds of workers at EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear plant are being furloughed after the firm decided to cut the number of workers on site by more than half.
In an attempt to cut costs, the Telegraph reported that many of the site’s workers are being moved onto the government’s employee retention scheme, which guarantees them 80 per cent of their wages.
In an attempt to cut costs, the Telegraph reported that many of the site’s workers are being moved onto the government’s employee retention scheme, which guarantees them 80 per cent of their wages.
Although some of the 2,000 or so workers moved off the nuclear site in Somerset will continue to work in back office roles, the requirement to pay the majority will now shift to the government.
Those initially set to be moved onto the Treasury scheme are contractors working on the site, not EDF employees.
The French firm said: “Hinkley Point C has reduced the number of workers on its site to enable safe working. The project has not asked for any additional Government support and the majority of workers will remain in employment”.
It is understood that contractors are furloughing 500 or so employees, with the intention to bring them back onto payroll as soon as possible.
EDF has not issued a statement on whether it expects the coronavirus pandemic to impact the project’s timeline. …..
EDF’s decision to reduce its workforce came after the government came under pressure to suspend all non-essential construction work over safety concerns.
Politicians of all stripes, from London mayor Sadiq Khan to Tory ex-minister Iain Duncan Smith hit out against the government’s decision not to pause all such work for the duration of the crisis. https://www.cityam.com/coronavirus-edf-to-furlough-hinkley-point-workers-after-reducing-site-numbers/
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19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
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