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Plan for China to take over nuclear build in UK raisers safety fears

Nuclear safety fears as China to build atomic reactor in UK using imported parts, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nuclear-safety-fears-china-build-5866142   11 JUNE 2015  BY  

In return for investment in Somerset’s Hinkley Point the Chinese want to take over the decommissioned nuclear station in Bradwell, Essex Britain is risking a nuclear crisis by letting China build an atomic reactor here, the GMB union has claimed.

National Secretary Gary Smith said the Chinese want to use their own parts, which a top expert has criticised, to replace Essex’s Bradwell plant.

The government has also been accused of holding up the “white flag” and surrendering Britain’s role as a serious player in the nuclear industry.

The stark warning to Energy Secretary Amber Rudd come in a letter from Britain’s third biggest union, raising serious concerns about national security.

The Chinese National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is involved in a multi-billion deal to fund Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset and Bradwell in Essex. Continue reading →

June 13, 2015 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Transfer of radiation experts to Alabama makes Californiaans more vulnerable , in nuclear disaster

“Dangerous Decision” Could Leave Californians Vulnerable After Nuclear Disaster. 4 Southern California, 12 June 15 By Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser

An EPA plan to consolidate resources would move West Coast nuclear response team to Alabama. Housed in a nondescript office park in Las Vegas, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has an elite team of radiation experts trained to respond to a nuclear disaster. One of their most important tools is a Mobile Environmental Radiation Lab known as the “MERL.”

A set of three large vehicles, the MERL can be in Southern California in a matter of hours after a terrorist attack or nuclear accident. And it allows the radiation response team to quickly identify and track dangerous radiation spreading across the region.

“The laboratory would be used to make emergency response decisions as to where people are okay to go, and where they can’t go,” explains Richard Flotard, a retired EPA radiation chemist.

But the NBC4 I-Team has obtained an EPA internal memo explaining that the agency is moving the mobile lab from Las Vegas to Alabama, leaving the state far removed from what California’s Office of Emergency Services calls a “first response” tool in the case of nuclear attack or accident.

Homeland Security officials have long worried that the port of LA, or downtown LA, could be a prime target for terrorists to detonate a nuclear device.

The EPA says it plans to move the lab to Montgomery, Alabama, home of another EPA radiation facility, this summer because of “tight resources.” That means the lab would have to drive across 7 states, taking 4-6 days for it to get to California in case of a nuclear event.”Leaving the western U.S. without this critical resource will increase response time to our state, jeopardizing our combined ability to adequately protect the public” during a nuclear disaster, said Jennifer Chappelle of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in a letter to the EPA.

Dr. Vern Hodge, a radiation scientist at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who has been studying radiation for decades, told NBC4 that “it’s a criminal act if you remove this rapid response unit from the west coast.”……..http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Dangerous-Decision-Could-Leave-Californians-Vulnerable-After-Nuclear-Disaster-307086911.html

June 13, 2015 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Risk of nuclear meltdown due to faulty valves in new-generation EPR reactor

pressure vessel olkiluotoFaulty valves in new-generation EPR nuclear reactor pose meltdown risk, inspectors warn http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11662889/Faulty-valves-in-new-generation-EPR-nuclear-reactor-pose-meltdown-risk-inspectors-warn.html
Flamanville third-generation EPR nuclear reactor – the same model Britain plans to use for two new plants at Hinkley Point – has multiple faults in crucial safety valves, inspectors warn By , Paris 09 Jun 2015 Nuclear safety inspectors have found crucial faults in the cooling system of France’s flagship new-generation nuclear power plant on the Channel coast, exposing it to the risk of meltdown.

The third-generation European Pressurised Reactor currently under construction in Flamanville is the same model that Britain plans to use for two new plants at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

State-controlled nuclear giant Areva is responsible for the design and construction.

France’s nuclear safety watchdog found “multiple” malfunctioning valves in the Flamanville EPR that could cause its meltdown, in a similar scenario to the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the US.

The inspectors listed the faults in a damning presentation obtained by Mediapart, the investigative French website. This is the latest setback for what is supposed to be France’s atomic energy showcase abroad, following the revelation last month that its steel reactor vessel has “very serious anomalies” that raise the risk of it cracking. The vessel houses the plant’s nuclear fuel and confines its radioactivity. Continue reading →

June 10, 2015 Posted by | France, safety, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear safety breaches – legal action, at Devonport Naval Base

safety-symbol-Smflag-UKSix nuclear incidents at Plymouth dockyard including employee contaminated with radiation By Plymouth Herald, June 09, 2015 Plymouth’s naval base is facing legal action after an employee suffered a dose of radiation.

The safety breach is one of six highlighted at Devonport Naval Base by the Office for Nuclear Regulation from the end of last year.

Radioactive water from the cooling system of a nuclear reactor was also mistakenly discharged into a submarine.

The ONR says reporting of safety incidents at the Plymouth base has been below standard…….http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/nuclear-incidents-Plymouth-dockyard-including/story-26661676-detail/story.html

June 10, 2015 Posted by | incidents, UK | Leave a comment

Big fines for USA’s nuclear weapons labs for new security violations

safety-symbol-SmFlag-USANuclear weapons labs hit with sizable fines for new security violations A classified material was missing for years before anyone noticed, and a lab official’s public slides included bomb design data, Center for Public Integrity 6 June 15  By Patrick Malone 

The Obama administration levied fines totaling nearly a million dollars this week against two of the nation’s nuclear weapons laboratories, mostly for failing to keep track of classified materials and for repeatedly disclosing information related to nuclear weapons design in public presentations stretching over nearly a decade.

In notices published by the Energy Department on June 5, the National Nuclear Security Administration provided only general information about the materials and data that got loose but said the breaches were among the most serious such infractions, and could have an “adverse impact on national security.”

It said a private company that operates Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, would be fined $577,500 for its poor handling of classified nuclear bomb design information.

A second private company that operates Los Alamos National Laboratories, also in New Mexico, faced a fine of $247,500 for failing to secure something that was identified only as classified “matter,” according to one of the notices, as well as a fine of $150,000 for an unrelated employee safety violation.

The notice did not explain what the missing “matter” is, but accused Los Alamos of conducting a poor investigation into what happened to it and of wrongly assuming, for years, that it had been safely destroyed.

The Energy Department said the two violations involving classified materials and data were labelled with its highest level of severity because they “involve the actual or high potential for adverse impact on the national security,” but it did not explain further. Even Los Alamos’s own internal inquiry “concluded that a compromise of classified information cannot be ruled out,” the Energy Department said.

The notices suggest that the laboratories – which endured unusual scrutiny a decade ago over allegations that they had failed to safeguard highly sensitive nuclear weapons information – are still having trouble complying with security regulations…….

In a separate probe, Energy Department investigators similarly found a longstanding security breach went undetected for years at Sandia National Laboratories. http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/06/05/17462/nuclear-weapons-labs-hit-sizable-fines-new-security-violations?utm_campaign=syndication

June 6, 2015 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Cyber attack an increasing threat to nuclear facilities – says IAEA

cyber-attackUN watchdog group warns of cyberattacks on nuclear facilities, SC Magazine http://www.scmagazine.com/international-conference-on-computer-security-hosted-for-first-time/article/418241/   3 Jun 15 Nuclear facilities around the world are facing daily cyberattacks on their systems, a United Nations nuclear watchdog group said during a Monday conference.

“Reports of actual or attempted cyberattacks are now virtually a daily occurrence,” said Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Last year alone, there were cases of random malware-based attacks at nuclear power plants and of such facilities being specifically targeted.”

The conference at which Amano spoke, the International Conference on Computer Security in a Nuclear World, is in its inaugural year and goes until June 5, the UN reported.

“Staff responsible for nuclear security should know how to repel cyber-attacks and to limit the damage if systems are actually penetrated,” Amano said. “The IAEA is doing what it can to help governments, organizations, and individuals adapt to evolving technology-driven threats from skilled cyber adversaries.”

June 4, 2015 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Just 30 miles from New York City – a nuclear disaster-in-waiting

reactor-Indian-PointHOW A POTENTIAL FUKUSHIMA SITS 30 MILES FROM NYC , Pontiac Tribune,   11 May 15  “…………..there is something of grave concern scheduled to begin shortly, and its close proximity to the aging nuclear plant — which at one time found itself on the list of the nation’s worst — has largely escaped coverage by the corporate media. Oh, did I mention IPEC is located in a seismic zone?

When contemplating risk, there is an assumption that the factors under consideration will lead to an informed decision in answering the question: Is it worth it?

The Algonquin Incremental Market Project (AIM) is a glaring example of an entire industry hellbent on ignoring that essential question altogether. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), gave the green light on plans for Spectra Corporation to construct a 42″, high – pressure natural gas pipeline which will run through the IPEC facility, less than a quarter mile — at one critical point just 105 feet — from the No 2 and No 3 reactors. But that’s only the beginning of the folly characterizing the AIM pipeline expansion, a project intended to pump fracked shale gas from Pennsylvania into New England.

Spectra, a giant in the natural gas infrastructure industry, has been seeking the addition to its 1,129 mile long Algonquin Pipeline since 2011. Though the project gained approval, how it managed to do, is a feat that defies logic entirely. Working with the NRC from its outset, engineer Paul Blanch is a nuclear energy proponent with decades of experience in nuclear safety and federal regulation, and holds security clearance for his job — by all accounts an industry ‘insider’. His take on the AIM project should carry weight:

“I’ve had over 45 years of nuclear experience and [experience in] safety issues,” Blanch told Truthout. “I have never seen [a situation] that essentially puts 20 million residents at risk, plus the entire economics of the United States by making a large area surrounding Indian Point uninhabitable for generations. I’m not an alarmist and haven’t been known as an alarmist, but the possibility of a gas line interacting with a plant could easily cause a Fukushima type of release.”

Gas is a volatile, explosive substance, and the pipelines tasked with transporting it are subject to corrosion and neglect, making maintenance and inspection the highest priority. However, a report [pdf] by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in January found operators had“inadequate evaluation of threats […] which may lead to underestimating the true magnitude of risks to a pipeline”, compounded by “inspectors [who] lack training to effectively verify the validity of an operator’s risk assessment”. With that in mind, an increase in the number of ‘incidents’ (read: accidents) in high – consequence areas (HCA), which are locations where injury and property damage are likely to occur, really comes as no surprise. And yet, Indian Point could qualify as the area of the highest consequences possible . . . New York City, with some 20 million people, sits just 37 miles to its south.

Why does this pipeline have approval? Continue reading →

June 1, 2015 Posted by | safety, USA | 1 Comment

Volcano erupting not far from Sendai where nuclear restarts have just been approved

flag-japanJapan Plans To Restart Reactors Surrounded By Active Volcanoes, Simply Info May 29th, 2015 Japan’s NRA has given the go ahead to restart two reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant. A recent court decision rejected the concerns of the public related to the safety of the plant. The needed local approvals are expected to permit the plant to restart even though public opinion is about two to one against restarts. The first reactor could restart as early as July.

One volcano 64km from the nuclear plant erupted last October. Now one 160km south of the plant is actively erupting. Residents of that island are being evacuated.  Even a distant volcano cancause serious problems for a nuclear plant. The ash released in an eruption can take out power lines and cause equipment such as diesel generators to fail.  We also found other risks that are unaddressed with the Sendai plant related to any disaster response……..Sendai still lacked an evacuation plan ……..http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=14778

volcano near Sendai nukes 15

May 30, 2015 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Turbulent activity of the sun – a threat to nuclear power plants

safety-symbol-Sm“Very chilling warning” from Japan expert who foretold Fukushima meltdowns: “The Gods are warning us of something even more serious… incredibly disastrous” — Professor: Suddenly, our sun is doing very strange things… Crisis much worse than Carrington Event possible… Most unstable period since ice age, I’m very concerned about nuclear plants (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/very-chilling-warning-japan-expert-foretold-fukushima-meltdowns-gods-warning-serious-incredibly-disastrous-professor-all-sudden-sun-doing-very-strange-very-unusual-could-stronger-carrington-event-u?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

Interview with Dr. Robert Schoch, Boston Univ. (PhD Geology & Geophysics, Yale Univ.), Dec 2013 (8:15 in, emphasis added) “At the end of the last ice age our sun was incredibly active… all the data points to the fact that this is actually what brought the last ice age to a close, with dramatic climate changes, dramatic changes on the surface the earth [and] incredible geological changes… The sun had this turbulent period about 10,000 BC [and] is going through this turbulence once again. This has been well documented by astrophysicists — that all of a sudden our sun is doing very strange, very unusual things… our sun is now more turbulent, more active, than it’s been since the end of the last ice age.”

Katsuhiko Ishibashi, Seismologist and Emeritus professor at Kobe Univ., Apr 28, 2015 (at 38:00 in): “This really is what I think… The Gods of this huge nature are actually warning the people of the Japanese archipelago in steps… In 2003, there was an earthquake that shook a nuclear plant where the design basis went over the standard seismic motion… Then 2007 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa… a direct, serious hit — and yet the Japanese people did not listen. Then it gave us Fukushima… The Gods are warning us that something even more serious can happen in this Japanese archipelago. And of course nuclear power plant accidents can result not just by earthquake. It could have an incredible, serious effect. It has been dishing it out step-by-step, warning us toward something that actually could be incredibly disastrous” … Moderator: “Very chilling warning” (Japan Times, May 1, 2015: “In 1997, [Ishibashi] wrote a report… where he coined the term “nuclear earthquake disaster.” The paper was written about 14 years before the Fukushima disaster, yet reads like a post-mortem of what happened: A major quake knocks out external power to the plant’s reactors and unleashes a tsunami… leading to loss of cooling and meltdowns.”)

Dr. Schoch,  Oct 2014 (55:30 in): “There’s very strong evidence [of] a major solar outburst at the end of the last ice age… Our sun is again going through a period of instability, similar to what we saw 12,000 years ago… We may be due… for some major surprises… The Carrington event of 1859 [largest geomagnetic storm on record] may have just been the start of things to come… I don’t want to be a fear monger… but I think we have to look at the data, I think we have to look at it realistically, and I do think we have to be prepared… We’re incredibly vulnerable with our modern electronics and our dependence on electricity and electrical grid systems… It’s well understood by those people who have studied it, if we had a Carrington event today it would be devastating… we could well have something much stronger than a Carrington event.”

Dr. Schoch, Nov 2013 (12:00 in): “The sun is more active now than it’s been for the last 8,000 or more years… There have been very reputable papers published for instance in the journal ‘Nature’, arguably the most prestigious science journal… that we are going into a period of major solar activity… There’s a saying ‘shot across the bow’… The first real evidence of this increased activity may be the 1859 Carrington event… a major solar outburst.”

Dr. Schoch, Nov 2013 (4:30 in): “I hate to bring it up, but I will because I think it’s serious — the nuclear power plants that we have around the world, we’ve seen what can happen. Fukushima was not that long ago. When you knock out power to a nuclear power plant, the cooling systems don’t necessarily function… If you lose power to a nuclear power plant, we’ve seen what the results can be — and it could be a lot worse than Fukushima.… I don’t want to be alarmist, but on the other hand, I think we have to call it the way we see it. I think we really need to be talking about the evidence — which I believe is very good evidence — of what’s happened in the past, and the ramifications for this in the present and future.”

Dr. Schoch, Dec 2013 (17:00 in): “Something that I’m very concerned about is… we saw a little foreshadowing [at] Fukushima… a nuclear power plant loses electricity… If that happens to hundreds of nuclear power plants… or even just a couple, you’ve got major concerns.”

Ishibashi’s press conference here — Interviews with Dr. Schoch here (1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

May 29, 2015 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority gives approval for restart of Sendai reactors

Abe,-Shinzo-nukeJapan Nuclear Plant Obtains Final Permit Needed To Restart, Huffington Post  By MARI YAMAGUCHI  05/27/2015 TOKYO (AP) — A nuclear plant in southern Japan on Wednesday obtained the final permit needed to restart its reactors, paving the way for it to become the first to go back online under new safety standards introduced after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

All of Japan’s more than 40 reactors are currently offline for repairs or safety inspections. The two units at the Sendai nuclear power plant are among 24 reactors seeking to restart, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-business government tries to put as many back online as possible.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved the Sendai plant’s operational safety plans, the last step of a three-part screening process. The plant’s safety program includes emergency response plans in case of fire, floods or other natural disasters, or a serious accident…… While local municipalities have already approved the Sendai plant’s restart, many residents oppose the plan, citing potential danger from active volcanos in the region.

Kyushu Electric hopes to restart one reactor at the Sendai plant in late July after on-site tests and training and the other in late September, though there could be some delays………http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/27/japan-nuclear-plant-restart_n_7450350.html

May 29, 2015 Posted by | Japan, politics, safety | Leave a comment

Chinese scientist warns on dubious safety of China’s nuclear power programme

safety-symbol-Smflag-ChinaChina warned over ‘insane’ plans for new nuclear power plants, Guardian,  , 25 May 15   He Zuoxiu, a leading Chinese scientist, says the country is not investing enough in safety controls after lifting of post-Fukushima disaster reactor ban. China’s plans for a rapid expansion of nuclear power plants are “insane” because the country is not investing enough in safety controls, a leading Chinese scientist has warned.

Proposals to build plants inland, as China ends a moratorium on new generators imposed after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, are particularly risky, the physicist He Zuoxiu said, because if there was an accident it could contaminate rivers that hundreds of millions of people rely on for water and taint groundwater supplies to vast swathes of important farmlands.

China halted the approval of new reactors in 2011 in order to review its safety standards, but gave the go-ahead in March for two units, part of an attempt to surpass Japan’s nuclear-generating capacity by 2020 and become the world’s biggest user of nuclear power a decade later.

Barack Obama recently announced plans to renew a nuclear cooperation deal with Beijing that would allow it to buy more US-designed reactors, and potentially pursue the technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel…..

He, who worked on China’s nuclear weapons programme, said the planned rollout was going too fast to ensure it had the safety and monitoring expertise needed to avert an accident.

“There are currently two voices on nuclear energy in China. One prioritises safety while the other prioritises development,” He told the Guardian in an interview at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He spoke of risks including “corruption, poor management abilities and decision-making capabilities”. He said: “They want to build 58 (gigawatts of nuclear generating capacity) by 2020 and eventually 120 to 200. This is insane.”

He’s challenge to the nuclear plans is particularly powerful because of his scientific credentials and a long history of taking a pro-government stance on controversial issues, from the 1950s destruction of Beijing’s city walls to the crackdown in the 1990s on the religious group Falun Gong.

He would like to see China stop its expansion once the plants that have been approved or are now under construction are finished, and then gain a few decades experience of running them safely before expanding again. Almost all the country’s working reactors started up after 2000.

“China currently does not have enough experience to make sound judgments on whether there could be accidents,” he said. “The number of reactors and the amount of time they have been operating safely both matter.

“The safety reviews after Fukushima found some problems, but only minor ones, and the final conclusion is that China’s nuclear power is safe. But the safety checks were carried out under the old standards and the standards themselves clearly need big improvements.”………

“Japan has better technology and better management, and yet it couldn’t avoid an accident despite the fact that it tried very hard to learn from the US and USSR,” He said, adding that China’s nuclear monitor has sparser staffing than Japan’s, and offers low salaries that will not attract the best young scientists.

China had considered and then rejected stronger standards, He said, because of the huge pressure for a rapid expansion and companies powerful enough to put corporate profits ahead of national security.

“There were internal discussions on upgrading standards in the past four years, but doing so would require a lot more investment which would affect the competitiveness and profitability of nuclear power,” He said. “Nuclear energy costs are cheap because we lower our standards.”

Rather than encouraging debate to expose weaknesses, the government tries to stamp it out, and in a country where challenging officials is risky, there is no mechanism to encourage or protect whistleblowers.

He said: “At the moment, the ministry of environmental protection is considering a new watchdog. When they invited me over for a discussion, I told them: ‘Your safety watchdog is not independent. It listens to the national nuclear corporation and hence the scrutiny is fake’.”…….http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/25/china-nuclear-power-plants-expansion-he-zuoxiu

May 27, 2015 Posted by | China, safety | Leave a comment

Tokyo hit by 5.6y mag earthquake

Quake Hits Tokyo Days After Japan OK’s Third Nuclear Restart BY HENRY AUSTIN NBC NEWS 25 MAY 15 An earthquake shook buildings and halted train lines in Tokyo early Monday, days after Japan’s nuclear regulator green-lighted the restarting of atomic energy at a third plant.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6, was centered in Ibaraki prefecture just northeast of the country’s capital, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no tsunami warning.

Narita airport closed both runways for checks shortly after the quake, but the capital’s Haneda airport was operating as normal.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, and no reports of abnormalities at any nuclear facilities.

But the quake is likely to reignite the debate about whether the country should use nuclear power in one of the world’s most seismically active nations……….http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/quake-strikes-japan-days-after-nuclear-reactor-signed-n364071

May 27, 2015 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

The emergencies at North Anna Nuclear Power Station

Japan Nuclear Engineer: US reactor at risk of ‘supercriticality’ during recent emergency… “That’s something scary” — Damaged nuclear fuel rods and fuel fragments found at plant, conditions reported as “seriously degraded” (VIDEO)http://enenews.com/japan-nuclear-engineer-reactor-risk-supercriticality-during-recent-emergency-big-spike-neutron-flux-scary-fragments-nuclear-fuel-later-found-plant-conditions-reported-be-seriously-degraded-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

Satoshi Sato, Nuclear Engineer, April 28, 2015 (emphasis added): “I don’t know if you remember, there was the earthquake in 2011 in Virginia. That was a big one… enough to cause vibration to the North Anna reactor resulting in a big spike of neutron flux — or reactor power… and somehow caused the additional radioactivity into the core. So that’s something scary, potentially resulting in a supercriticality.” (IEER: “The neutron spike accompanying a sudden supercriticality can lead to an explosion of the reactor core. It is this sort of event which occurred at the Chernobyl reactor”)

U.S. NRC Event Notification, Aug 29, 2011: EMERGENCY DECLARED… North Anna Power Station declared an Alert [“actual or potential substantial degradation of the level of safety”] due to significant seismic activity… This notification is to report… a condition existed which met the emergency plan criteria but was not declared… Design Basis Earthquake limits may have been exceeded.

U.S. NRC, 2012: Reactor trips at both North Anna 1 and 2, were caused by a “Power RangeHigh Negative Neutron Flux Rate”… four possible causes [were identified] (1) loss of power to the control rod motor generator sets, (2) a dropped control rod, (3) movement of the nuclear instrumentation detectors, and (4) core barrel movement… Analysis included a third-party evaluation of the potential response of the core nucleate boiling… [Physics Forum: “nucleate boiling… reduces the heat transfer capability of the coolant… which leads to even more boiling, etc, until the fuel becomes ‘dry’… the cladding will burn and/or fuel will will melt”]

U.S. NRC email, Sept 2011: RE: North Anna… At this point, it appears that the grippers for several of the control rods deenergized and dropped.

Westinghouse patent: A dropped rod… will initially result in a reduction in the total powergenerated by the core. The reactor will then attempt to meet the load… by increasing powerin the remainder of the core which could lead to local overheating elsewhere in the core.

ASEE 2003 Conference: If a critical reactor is over moderated… the reactor can rapidly reach and exceed the prompt critical condition… Chernobyl started at a low power level, which corresponded to a positive void coefficient.

North Anna Root Cause Evaluation, Oct 2011: The last power decreases prior to the trips were of sufficient magnitude and rate to generate the negative rate trip… Root Cause Evaluation Team has postulated that the major cause of the power oscillations was void defect created by bursts of bubbles… which caused the power increases which followed the power decreases… It is postulated that [as] the seismic waves shake… a large portion of the [fuel] cladding surface is suddenly in the nucleate boiling region [and] causes the bubble burst… [I]t may not be plausible to generate sufficient void to decrease the core power up to 10% [therefore it] can be concluded that the bubble burst theory alone does not explain the magnitude of change [in] Units 1 and 2.

Enformable, Oct 2011: “It is likely that the North Anna Operators are going to be shocked… when they open the reactor to attempt to refuel it, and find that they cannot retrieve the fuel”

3 years later >> Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept 30, 2014: Dominion Virginia Power has foundtwo damaged nuclear fuel rods in its North Anna 2 power plant [NRC in 2011: “It is noteworthy that the power oscillations were more pronounced on Unit 2“]… 15 uranium fuel pellets came out of two rods… [CEO David Heacock said] rods rubbed against the support structure, cutting grooves in them and eventually causing their tops to crack off… “We have accounted for about eight of the pellets”… The failed fuel assembly had been used during three 18-month operating cycles at North Anna…

U.S. NRC Event Notification Report, Sept 15, 2014: FAILED FUEL ASSEMBLY IDENTIFIED DURING CORE OFF-LOAD… North Anna Unit 2… Video inspection of the reactor vessel identified debris that has the potential to be fragments of fuel pellets resting on the core plate… this event is being reported [as an] event or condition that results in the condition of the nuclear plant, including its principle safety barriers, being seriously degraded.

Watch Sato’s press conference from last month here

May 27, 2015 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Australians the suckers as AREVA tries to sell its failed nuclear technology down under

A negative learning curve on steroids What to make of the EPR saga? Areva is backing the wrong horse − the outcome of current political debates will result in a declining role for nuclear power in France, coupled to the growth of renewables.

A new report by ADEME, a French government agency under the Ministries of Ecology and Research, concludes that a 100% renewable electricity supply scenario is feasible in France. The report estimates that the electricity production cost would be €119 per megawatt-hour in 2050 in the 100% renewables scenario, compared with a near-identical figure of €117/MWh with a mix of 50% nuclear, 40% renewables, and 10% fossil fuels.

areva-medusa1Areva has also backed the wrong-sized wrong horse: a giant reactor with a giant price-tag. That said, the backers of ‘small modular reactors‘ are having no more success than Areva. And Areva isn’t having much luck with its mid-sized ATMEA pressurised water reactor………

The EPR saga shows that developing modified versions of conventional reactors (in this case pressurised water reactors) can be complicated and protracted and can end in failure. How much more difficult will it be to develop radically new types of reactors? The French government’s Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety has recently produced an important critique of Generation IV nuclear power concepts. It states that there “is still much R&D to be done to develop the Generation IV nuclear reactors” and it is sceptical about the safety claims made for Generation IV concepts.

Feeling the pressure: Bumbling nuclear’s negative learning curve Jim Green, 21 May 2015, Climate Spectator http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/5/21/energy-markets/feeling-pressure-bumbling-nuclears-negative-learning-curve

French state-owned nuclear giant Areva is offering to sell its ‘world leading’ nuclear technology to South Australia. The offer is being reported in the South Australian media without a hint of irony. A reality check is in order.

Areva has posted losses in each of the past four years including a €4.83 billion loss in 2014. Continue reading →

May 22, 2015 Posted by | France, safety, technology | Leave a comment

Sadety investigation opened by NRC at Indian Point Nuclear Plant

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Opens Probe at Indian Point Federal agency’s involvement follows fire at plant  WSJ By  JOSEPH DE AVILA May 19, 2015 New York state is renewing its call for tougher oversight of electrical transformers at the Indian Point Energy Center after the third failure in eight years of one of the power-transfer devices at the nuclear plant.

A transformer for Indian Point’s unit 3 exploded and caught fire May 9 in the nonnuclear section of the power plant 30 miles north of New York City. No one was hurt and no other equipment damaged.

The state’s call for more intensive inspections comes as EntergyCorp., the owner of Indian Point, seeks to renew its operating licenses for units 2 and 3 with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The state has opposed the renewal……..http://www.wsj.com/articles/nuclear-regulatory-commission-opens-probe-at-indian-point-1432054561

May 20, 2015 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

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