nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Costly cracks in Davis-Besse nuclear reactor

FirstEnergy finds cracks at Ohio nuclear reactor,

* Davis-Besse shut to replace reactor vessel head

* Small cracks found in concrete shield building

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) – FirstEnergy said it discovered small cracks in the concrete shield building surrounding the containment structure at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio, which was shut for another reactor vessel head replacement, a spokesman for the Ohio-based energy company said Monday…..

Crystal River has been shut since September 2009 after workers discovered a gap in the concrete containment dome after they cut through the structure to replace the plant’s aging steam generators. The plant is not expected to return until at least 2014….

This is Davis-Besse’s third reactor vessel head.

It cost the company about $600 million to replace the first vessel head ($300 million) and buy replacement power ($300 million) after workers in 2002 discovered borated water, which acts as the reactor coolant, leaked from a control rod drive mechanism and ate a six inch hole in the first vessel head. The plant did not return to service until 2004.

In 2010 during a scheduled refueling outage, the company found small cracks in the control rod nozzels and decided to replace the second vessel head. Schneider said this head replacement project would cost about $115 million…..

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/utilities-operations-firstenergy-davis-idUSN1E79G0KR20111017

October 18, 2011 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Big price fall for First Energy due to crack in Davis-Besse nuclear plant.

FirstEnergy Falls After Report of Nuclear Reactor Cracks Bloomberg By Julie Johnsson and Mark Chediak – Oct 13, 2011  FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) fell after a report that engineers discovered cracks in the concrete shell of its Davis-Besse nuclear plant.

FirstEnergy fell 2.8 percent to $43.76 at the close in New York. The Akron, Ohio-based power company had earlier dropped 5 percent, its biggest intraday decline since Aug. 8, according to data compiled by Bloomberg…..

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating the structural damage to the concrete building that protects the reactor from tornadoes and other hazards, said Viktoria Mitlyng, spokeswoman for the nuclear agency, in a telephone interview.

Previous Problems  Davis-Besse was shuttered for more than three months in 2010 after workers discovered cooling water leaking through cracks in some reactor-head nozzles, steel casings that hold fuel and control rods.

Leaks and reactor corrosion prompted FirstEnergy to close the plant for two years, from 2002 to 2004, while the company retrained or replaced workers who ignored signs of damage, and eventually replaced the reactor head.

The leaks found last year at the 900-megawatt plant prompted the Union of Concerned Scientists in April 2010 to demand that the plant remain closed until its owners established better controls to maintain health and safety standards.

October 14, 2011 Posted by | incidents | Leave a comment

Radioactive leak in US National Laboratory

National Lab in NY Halts Some Work After Leak, ABC News, By FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press GARDEN CITY, N.Y. October 10, 2011 (AP) A sealed device used to check whether radiation detectors are working properly at Brookhaven National Laboratory leaked a small amount of radioactivity last month, lab authorities said. There was no threat to public health or the environment, but the lab has halted some operations while it investigates.

The radioactivity was later found on two employees, in a parking lot and private vehicle, and in one of the facility’s buildings, the lab said. The lab is reviewing policies, procedures and training programs.

“Even the leak of a small amount of radiation is unacceptable,” George Goode, assistant director for environmental safety and health at the lab on eastern Long Island, said Monday. “We are treating this very seriously.” Continue reading →

October 11, 2011 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactive leak from Dounreay nuclear plant

Leak found at former nuclear plant, Google News, (UKPA) 9 Oct 11, Scotland’s environment secretary has called for a full investigation after a radioactive leak was found at the former Dounreay power station. The leak was discovered during a routine operation of the plant which is destroying the liquid metal used as the coolant in the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR).

Monitoring systems detected drips of caustic liquor from pipework in a shielded cell. Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said the plant was immediately shut down and the leak isolated and stopped. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said no material had been released into the environment and that the leak was “minor”….

Dounreay’s nuclear reactor was shut down in 1994 and work to decommission the site in Caithness has been under way since then. It was the only plant in Britain to use liquid metal instead of gas or water in the cooling circuits…. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gbScqRflnDY2MmCLODQSX6TveHNA?docId=N0834141318086993943A

October 10, 2011 Posted by | incidents, UK | Leave a comment

Generator failures hit 4 U.S. nuclear plants

4 generator failures hit US nuclear plants, Kake County News Sun, By RAY HENRY Associated Press October 9, 2011  ATLANTA — Four generators that power emergency systems at nuclear plants have failed when needed since April, an unusual cluster that has attracted the attention of federal inspectors and could prompt the industry to re-examine its maintenance plans.

None of these failures has threatened the public. But the diesel generators serve the crucial function of supplying electricity to cooling systems that prevent a nuclear plant’s hot, radioactive fuel from overheating, melting and potentially releasing radiation into the environment. Continue reading →

October 10, 2011 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Radiation mishap at Belgian nuclear waste facility

UN agency reports Belgian nuclear mishap, 3 people contaminated ,Washington Post, By Associated Press,  October 5 VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear agency says three people were exposed to radiation and had to undergo decontamination after a mishap at a Belgian waste facility.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says no radioactivity has been released into the environment through the incident at the Belgoprocess nuclear waste processing facility in Dessel, Belgium…… http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/un-agency-reports-belgian-nuclear-mishap-3-people-contaminated/2011/10/05/gIQA3yAYNL_story.html

October 6, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, incidents | Leave a comment

    Next Entries »