Belgian nuclear reactor shut down due to fire: Belgium phasing out nuclear power
Fire shuts down Belgian nuclear reactor https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/25650869/fire-shuts-down-belgian-nuclear-reactor/A Belgian nuclear reactor has shut down after a fire broke out at the plant in the east of the country, the Belga news agency reported. The incident on Sunday could put a further strain on Belgium’s electricity grid, after warnings in August that outages at other nuclear plants could lead to power cuts in the approaching winter.
The Tihange 3 power station, situated 70 kilometres south-west of the German town of Aachen, shut down automatically after one of its transformers reportedly caught fire. The fire, which has since been extinguished, was caused by an explosion, Sudpresse newspaper group reported on its website.
It was unclear Sunday how long the 1,048-megawatt reactor will remain out of service.Tihange 3 is now the fourth Belgian nuclear reactor to be out of service, as another plant at Tihange and two at Doel have been shut down due to defects or security concerns.
The Tihange 1 reactor was not affected by Sunday’s incident, however. Belgium has adopted a nuclear phaseout plan that foresees the complete abandonment of nuclear energy by 2025.
British jihadi claims that Islamic State has a ‘dirty bomb’
Islamic State has a ‘dirty bomb’ says British jihadi, amid claims 40kg of URANIUM was taken from Iraqi university, Daily Mail,
- Chemical was stolen from Mosul University, northern Iraq, in July
- UN ambassador wrote letter at time of theft fearing ‘mass destruction’
- Hamayun Tariq among jihadis to boast of explosives on Twitter
- Hinted at the potential destruction of such a bomb if detonated in London
- British 37-year-old had social media account suspended afterwards
By JENNIFER SMITH FOR MAILONLINE, 30 November 2014 |slamic State fanatics claim to have constructed a dirty bomb after stealing 40kg of uranium from an Iraqi university.
Militants boasted of the device on social media, with one even commenting on the destruction such a bomb would wreak in London, four months after the chemical was reported missing from Mosul University.
Among extremists making online threats to the West is British explosives expert Hamayun Tariq, who fled his home in Dudley, West Midlands, for the Middle East in 2012.
Scroll down on original page for video ………http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854729/Islamic-State-dirty-bomb-says-British-jihadi-amid-claims-40kg-uranium-taken-Iraqi-university.html
IAEA tells France to smarten up on nuclear power safety
IAEA recommends France raises funds, workforce for nuclear safety, Reuters, PARIS Fri Nov 28, 2014 “……..As the reactors age, approaching 40-years old in the next decade, French nuclear watchdog ASN will need more frequent safety checks requiring more staff and funds, both hard to obtain given government budget constraints……..The head of ASN, Pierre-Frank Chevet, has regularly warned officials of the need to increase the authority’s budget and workforce, but has so far obtained only a fraction of its estimates…….
Chevet also called for a new tax on nuclear operators that would be ringfenced for nuclear safety.
The IAEA mission, which did not disclose the draft report to reporters, also identified issues in need for improvement in the regulatory framework for the control of medical exposure to radiation and in “processes needed to deliver ASN’s mandate.”………
The final report will be given to the French government and made public in about three months. (Reporting by Michel Rose Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/28/us-france-nuclear-safety-idUSKCN0JC1LF20141128
Pickering nuclear power station has radioactive leak
Radioactive leak at Pickering nuclear station, Caledon Enterprise, 26 Nov 14
Heavy water contained inside reactor; no impact to public, environment Pickering News Advertiser
PICKERING — Thousands of litres of radioactive heavy water leaked in a reactor at the Pickering nuclear station Friday.
The incident happened in Unit 7, which was undergoing a scheduled maintenance outage, at about 4 p.m. on Nov. 21.
A valve on the moderator system opened inside the reactor building, Ontario Power Generation reported on Twitter….. 6,900 litres of heavy water leaked……http://www.caledonenterprise.com/news-story/5154334-updated-radioactive-leak-at-pickering-nuclear-station/
Powerful earthquake hits Japan
Powerful quake rocks Japan, 6- out of 7 on intensity scale — Officials warn of strong aftershocks, around 50 so far — Helicopters find “more extensive damage than earlier thought” — Major roads collapsed, buildings flattened — Witnesses: “Strongest ever felt… Shaking was enormous” (VIDEOS) http://enenews.com/powerful-quake-rocks-japan-6-7-intensity-scale-officials-warn-landslides-strong-aftershocks-50-helicopters-find-extensive-damage-earlier-thought-major-roads-collapsed-buildings-flattened?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Reuters: 6.8 [quake] jolted central Japan on Saturday evening… felt in the capital Tokyo 180 km away… an advanced party of Japan’s military had been sent… “the tremor was too strong to stand,” said… an NHK employee.
AP: Helicopter surveys on Sunday showed more extensive damage than earlier thought from an overnight earthquake… footage showed buildings in various states of collapse, some flattened and others leaning… and deep cracks in the roads… The quake was followed by more than 45 aftershocks… [Officials] urged residents to watch out for landslides.
Voice of America: A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake… halted high-speed train service, caused several major roads to collapse and shut down others because of landslides.
Xinhua: Nagano prefecture government has enforced the disaster relief law… [Officials] warned of possible strong aftershocks… the government has set up a disaster relief office.
AP: One of the strongest ever felt in recent years by residents… Ryo Nishino, a restaurant owner… “never experienced a quake that shook so hard… shaking was enormous.”… The earthquake was felt across much of northern Japan… the Meteorological Agency… warned of further aftershocks.
ABC Australia: 21 aftershocks in the 90 minutes following the quake [and] tremors continued… “an aftershock registering upper 5 could occur in the coming week,” an agency official said… The quake was felt in wide areas from [including] Tohoku in north-eastern Japan… train systems in… Tohoku, Yamagata, Akita, Joetsu and Nagano… temporarily stopped.
AFP: Footage showed flattened wooden houses… “It’s quite a strong earthquake for an inland one,” an official at the Japanese agency told a midnight press conference. “We are worried about the extent of damage to houses and buildings,” he said… police and municipal officials said they were still scrambling to collect information as they were operating in the dark… The meteorological agency warned strong aftershocks could still occur in the coming week.
NHK: Japanese officials warn of quake aftershocks — Officials at Japan’s Meteorological Agency are warning people to be on the alert for aftershocks in the days ahead after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake… The tremor registered intensities of 6-minus on the Japanese scale of 7.
Fox News: Fukushima is about 155 miles northeast of where Saturday’s earthquake occurred.
Video: NHK here | CBS here | Fox News here
Security problems surround mysterious drone flights over France’s nuclear power plants
Drone flights were first reported over at least 13 nuclear facilities in October. The flights have taken place mostly at night, involving drones of different sizes and capability, from smaller models that would need to be operated within the immediate vicinity to larger ones around two meters in size, which could be controlled from kilometres away. Flights have been carried out both in isolation and concurrently, with drones flown simultaneously over nuclear facilities hundreds of miles apart.
Risk assessment
It is difficult to assess the risk posed by the recent drone flights as at this point it is unclear who is behind them and crucially what their intentions and capabilities are…….
worryingly, drones could be used to carry explosives for detonation close to the reactor or other sensitive parts of a nuclear site, although there have been no reports to date that these drones have been carrying a malicious cargo…….
Drones could also have other malicious uses. When mounted with small cameras, they could be used to conduct reconnaissance or to test security provisions before carrying out a follow-up attack by other means. Or they could be potentially used to drop equipment onsite to help out a malicious insider. A recent case in Belgium involving the sabotage of non-nuclear systems of a power station by an employee highlights that insiders can pose a real threat……..http://theconversation.com/mystery-drones-are-buzzing-around-french-nuclear-plants-should-we-be-worried-34447
Radioactive release to air resulting from fire at Dounreay nuclear power station.
Dounreay nuclear plant fire led to ‘unauthorised’ radioactivity release Investigation identifies ‘unacceptable practices by staff’ relating to 7 October fire at site being decommissioned , Guardian, Terry Macalister, 22 Nov 14 The nuclear plant has been censured by safety regulators after admitting human error led to the release of radioactivity into the atmosphere.
The criticism comes just weeks after another nuclear plant, Sellafield in Cumbria, was also tackled by the safety regulator over its management of asbestos while pictures emerged of badly corroded storage ponds there.
Environmentalists said the problems highlighted dangers from building a new generation of nuclear plants which however well designed would be vulnerable to human fallibility………
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL), controlled by a consortium involving the engineering group Babcock, is involved in a £1.6bn contract to dismantle Dounreay, a prototype “fast reactor” built to experiment with nuclear fission in the 1950s and 60s……….
John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said the problems at Dounreay were disturbing. “Until we can clone enough popes to staff all the world’s nuclear reactor control rooms, there will always be a fallible human component in nuclear power stations. This worrying news demonstrates why it’s important to remember that even a reactor design which looks safe on paper can never completely design out the actions of human beings. Its why renewable energy always scores better on safety, because far less can go wrong.”
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities Secretariat, the local government voice on nuclear issues, described the Dounreay incident as “alarming” and called for more information.
“To hear that critical staff were not fully conversant in fire safety procedures and that a release of tritium occurred; putting into danger staff and the wider public; is quite disgraceful at such a sensitive nuclear site like Dounreay,” said councillor Mark Hackett, the NFLA’s chair.
The nuclear industry has had a difficult week after Areva, one of the companies involved in the management of Sellafield, issued a profit warning and said it might need a cash injection……..http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/21/dounreay-nuclear-plant-fire-radioactivity
Earthquake fault under Tsuruga nuclear reactor is active – say’s Japan’s Nuclear Regulator
Nuclear watchdog panel: Fault under Tsuruga reactor is active THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, 20 Nov 14
A fault line beneath the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant is indeed active, an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority concluded Nov. 19, drawing criticism from the plant’s operator.
Japan Atomic Power Co. vowed to challenge the panel’s conclusion, which, if it stands, would force the company to decommission the reactor under new safety rules……..
The NRA’s assessment of the fault last year came when Kunihiko Shimazaki, a seismologist known for his tough attitude toward power companies, was a deputy chairman of the watchdog. Utilities and ruling coalition officials criticized Shimazaki over his “hurried conclusion” on the Tsuruga plant.
Although Shimazaki’s term ended in September and he was replaced, the NRA’s position on the fault was not overturned.
The fault line survey at the Tsuruga plant was originally started at the request of the now-dissolved Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Fault inspections are a separate process from the safety screenings required to restart reactors, so Japan Atomic Power can still submit an application to resume operations at the reactor.
However, NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka has said he would respect the expert panel’s conclusion when deciding whether to allow reactors to restart.
(This article was written by Chikako Kawahara and Daiki Koga.) http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201411200043
St Lucie Nuclear Power Plant flooding raises safety problems
Flooding at St. Lucie nuclear plant prompts more oversight from regulators TCPALM, Will Greenlee, Nov 21, 2014 ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is stepping up oversight of one of two units at Florida Power & Light Co.’s St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant after about 50,000 gallons of water entered a reactor auxiliary building during heavy rains in January, according to the NRC.
The incident at the nuclear plant on Hutchinson Island occurred Jan. 9, when more than 7 inches of rain fell on the site, a report states. A blocked storm drain system played a role.
“During the event, stormwater entered the reactor auxiliary building … through degraded electrical conduits that were later found not to have internal flood seals,” a report states………50,000 gallons is about the amount held by a 25-by-45-foot swimming pool with an average depth of 6 feet…….http://www.tcpalm.com/news/local-news/st-lucie-county/flooding-at-st-lucie-nuclear-plant-prompts-more-oversight-from-regulators_24283175
Yet another safety bungle in South Korea’s nuclear power
Bungling Nuclear Safety – Fire at Kori Nuclear Power Plant Goes Undetected for Over an Hour Employees couldn’t hear audio alarm, couldn’t see visual alarm, Business Korea, 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Jung Yeon-jinA fire occurred in the nuclear fuel storage facilities of the Kori Nuclear Power Plant located in Kijang County, Busan City, but none of the workers was aware of it for over an hour.
According to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation, the fire occurred at 4:26 p.m., Nov. 11, at Kori Power Plant Unit 4, burning up a waste dryer along with some gloves and towels. It is assumed that the dryer overheated and started the fire while drying wet gloves……….
Power Plant Attempts to Cover Up Reactor Shutdown
But this fire is only the latest incident at the Kori Nuclear Power Station this year.
This past summer was a busy time for Kori Nuclear Power Plant, as Unit 2 was shut off because of heavy rainfall. On Aug. 25, a localized torrential downpour of over 100 mm per hour in Busan City resulted in rainwater infiltrating one of its annexes, and the corporation had to close the facilities.
At that time, the corporation covered up the incident by saying, “We shut down the facilities just in case, and this has nothing to do with the safety of the power station.” However, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission’s following report read, “The manual shutdown of the reactor was because of the malfunctioning of four of the circulation water pumps, attributable to the heavy rain.”
Danger of nuclear fuel storage at Columbia Generating Station
Groups says fuel storage poses risk at the Northwest’s lone commercial nuclear plant Oregon Live By Ted Sickinger| tsickinger@oregonian.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter November 20, 2014 The growing stockpile of spent nuclear fuel at the Northwest’s lone commercial nuclear plant poses a safety risk to the public in the event of an earthquake, according to a study sponsored by anti-nuclear groups.
The study of spent fuel storage at the Columbia Generating Station is the latest of several commissioned by the Physicians for Social Responsibility and Heart of America Northwest. They collectively suggest that the plant is an expensive and dangerous way for the Northwest to generate electricity, and that it ought to be closed.
The study was authored by nuclear critic Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies. Officials at Energy Northwest, the utility consortium that operates the plant, say it is riddled with hyperbole, data errors and fear mongering. They also suggest its backers are extrapolating earthquake risks from recent seismic data that doesn’t apply to the plant site.
The 1,200 megawatt boiling-water reactor is located on the Hanford nuclear reservation near Richland, Wash. It opened in 1984 and has since generated some 368,000 spent fuel rods in 4,588 assemblies.
In the absence of a national repository, about 60 percent of that waste has been transferred to durable, dry-cask storage, a safety measure that Alvarez applauds. But the remaining 40 percent remains in the reactor’s spent fuel pool, a 350,000-gallon tank located at the top of the reactor building, six stories above ground……….http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/11/groups_says_fuel_storage_poses.html
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant contains volatile materials – “potential bombs”
“Patented explosives” reported inside plutonium waste drums at US nuclear facility — TV: So volatile, experts comparing it to ‘bomb’ — Official: I’m appalled we weren’t told about real and present danger — Over 5,000 drums a threat — Invisible reactions may have already occurred (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/investigation-patented-explosives-drums-plutonium-waste-nuclear-facility-tv-volatile-experts-calling-potential-bomb-5000-drums-threat-invisible-reactions-occurred-other-containters-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Sante Fe New Mexican, Nov. 15, 2014 (emphasis added): The combination [of neutralizer and wheat-based organic litter] turned the waste into a potential bomb that one lab chemist later characterized as akin to plastic explosives, according to a six-month investigation by The New Mexican. [Los Alamos National Lab] then shipped [the waste] to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant… Feb. 14… the drum’s lid cracked open… Temperatures in the underground chamber soared to 1,600 degrees, threatening dozens of nearby drums… Documents and internal emails show… officials downplayed the dangers… and withheld critical information.
Patented Explosives
- LANL chemist Steve Clemmons [found] the drum’s contents match the makeup of patented plastic, water-gel and slurry explosives… “All of the required components included in the patent claims would be present,” Clemmons wrote… “I am appalled that LANL didn’t provide us this information!” [wrote DOE official Dana Bryson]… On May 27, when they learned of the memo about patented explosives… WIPP abandoned plans for the next day to sample the area where the breach occurred, fearing it was too dangerous. “In a phone call withLANL, they indicated that there is a possibility that any sampling of the kitty litter/drum contents could cause another event,” [wrote] David Freeman, Nuclear Waste Partnership’s chief nuclear engineer… “We have a formal letter on LANL letterhead implying there is a real and present danger in the WIPP underground,” Bryson wrote.
Up to 55 more drums of waste ‘destabilized ‘
- The intense underground flare may have destabilized up to 55 more drums of waste [near the one that ruptured], calling into question whether they, too, had become poised to burst. “[The high heat event] may have dried out some of the unreacted oxidizer-organic mixtures increasing their potential for spontaneous reaction,” the report said. “The dehydration of the fuel-oxidizer mixtures… is recognized as a condition known to increase the potential for reaction.”
Over 5,000 more waste drums a threat
- LANL began treating waste with assorted varieties of organic kitty litter as early as Sept. 2012, spawning thousands of drums of waste that hold the same organic threat… [It] may have been mixed in up to 5,565 containers of waste at LANL.
LANL (pg. 21 of pdf): [The team] evaluated the effect of a heat generating event on the adjacent waste containers [that] could have chemically or physically changed the waste and introduced a reaction hazard. Unreacted drums of nitrate salt waste stream… continue to pose a potential reaction hazard… Reactions may have occurred within some of these drums at levels insufficient to lead to detectable visible evidence.
KOB, Nov. 16, 2014: Nuclear waste so volatile, it’s been called a potential bomb by experts… Greg Mello, former nuclear waste inspector for LANL: “The drum in question was basically kind of a time bomb.”… [A WIPP] assessment… estimates over 5,000 drums of waste may contain the volatile organic kitty litter that caused the one drum to split open.
Japan’s utilities want to open new controversial nuclear plant, and prolong life of others
Nuclear operators push to open new plant, extend life of aging reactors THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, 14 Nov 14 Across Japan, utilities are backing the Abe administration’s support of nuclear power generation by continuing construction of a new facility and seeking to extend the life of reactors that have been operating for about 40 years.
Electric Power Development Co. (J-Power) announced Nov. 13 that it will apply to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for safety screenings to start operations at its Oma nuclear power plant, which is currently under construction.
The announcement came at a town assembly meeting at Oma, Aomori Prefecture, where J-Power President Masayoshi Kitamura said the company will submit the application by the end of the year and plans to have the new facility fully operational in fiscal 2021.
If everything proceeds as scheduled, the Oma plant will be the first instance in which power companies applied for the start of operations at new reactors that are still under construction.
While the No. 1 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture and Chugoku Electric Power Co.’s Shimane plant No. 3 reactor in Matsue are also currently under construction, the utilities have not submitted applications to start the reactors.
Although the central government’s basic energy plan states that dependency on nuclear power should be reduced as much as possible, it does not clearly mention the construction of new nuclear facilities.
The government does not deem nuclear plants as “new or additional” if their construction started before the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which set off the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Forty percent of the construction of the Oma plant had been completed prior to the disaster.
However, there is no guarantee that the screening process will proceed smoothly because the structure and operation procedures of the Oma facility are different from those of conventional nuclear plants.
The Oma plant will be the world’s first 100 percent MOX nuclear facility, where only mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel, consisting of plutonium and uranium, is used at reactor cores for the purpose of consuming plutonium produced in processing spent nuclear fuel………
“No full MOX facility has so far gone online around the world,” NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said at a Nov. 12 news conference. “We will examine extremely carefully (if countermeasures are sufficient).”…….
PROLONGING LIFE OF AGED REACTORS
Elsewhere, with the Abe administration supporting the restarts of the nation’s idle reactors after they pass NRA safety screenings, Kansai Electric Power Co. is making efforts to prolong the operating lives of aged reactors……..http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201411140068
Russia’s underwater nuclear graveyard- the danger in the Arctic
Sunken Soviet Submarines Threaten Nuclear Catastrophe in Russia’s Arctic, Moscow Times. by Matthew Bodner Nov. 13 2014 While Russia’s nuclear bombers have recently set the West abuzz by probing NATO’s air defenses, a far more certain danger currently lurks beneath the frigid Arctic waters off Russia’s northern coast — a toxic boneyard for Soviet nuclear ships and reactors whose containment systems are gradually wearing out.
Left to decay at the bottom of the ocean, the world is facing a worst case scenario described as “an Arctic underwater Chernobyl, played out in slow motion,” according to Thomas Nilsen, an editor at the Barents Observer newspaper and a member of a Norwegian watchdog group that monitors the situation.
According to a joint Russian-Norwegian report issued in 2012, there are 17,000 containers of nuclear waste, 19 rusting Soviet nuclear ships and 14 nuclear reactors cut out of atomic vessels at the bottom of the Kara Sea.
For extra historical details see: Soviet Nuclear Submarine Wrecks at Bottom of Arctic Ocean (Video) Continue reading
Russia’s nuclear czar, Sergei Kirienko plans wind down of nuclear security co-operation
After Two Decades Of Cooperation, Russia May Pull The Plug On Nuclear Security Contracts With The US, Business Insider 15 Nov 14 PIERRE BIENAIMÉ In the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s former American rival has spent billions helping Moscow secure a sprawling network of nuclear infrastructure, in the interest of lowering the odds that weaponised uranium might fall in the hands of extremists or rogue states.
Now Russia may be planning to wind down those joint efforts, the New York Times reported. Sergey V. Kirienko, the head of Russia’s state nuclear company, told US Energy Secretary that no new contracts aimed at nuclear security for 2015 were envisioned “under current circumstances” — a concise reference to the ratcheting tensions between Russia and the West since its annexation of Crimea in March………http://www.businessinsider.com.au/russia-may-stop-cooperating-with-the-us-2014-11/
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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