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Workers exposed to airborne uranium, due to pressurised yellowcake containers

Pressurized drums create yellowcake uranium hazard, NRC says By Todd Sperry, CNN Senior Producer July 11, 2012 – Washington (CNN) — After three Canadian employees were exposed to yellowcake uranium last month when a lid blew off a pressurized 55-gallon drum, a uranium mining company has informed U.S. nuclear regulatory officials it has found additional drums possibly susceptible to the same problem, CNN has learned..

.. The NRC and
Canadian nuclear officials are investigating drums shipped from a Willow Creek, Wyoming, mining facility operated by Uranium One to an Ontario processing plant where workers opened them, including the one that ejected the powder. The three employees were overcome by a cloud of yellowcake uranium that had unexpectedly become pressurized.
The worker closest to the drum and two others in the area, who were not wearing respirators, were exposed to airborne uranium, according to the NRC..

… Yellowcake is the byproduct of uranium ore that is mined, crushed and milled until concentrated. It is a key component in manufacturing uranium fuel for nuclear reactors.
NRC officials gave Uranium One until this week to identify whether any other drums had become pressurized during manufacture or shipment…… Other drums shipped to the Canadian facility containing yellowcake were found to be bulging from internal pressure, the NRC said.

July 12, 2012 Posted by | Canada, incidents, Uranium | Leave a comment

The underestimated dangers at Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory

Nuclear Weapons Lab Underestimates Risk of Radiation Leak, Study Finds, Project on Government Oversight (POGO) By MIA STEINLE, 10 July 12,  One of the nation’s main nuclear weapons labs has sharply underestimated the amount of radiation that could leak from the facility as a result of an earthquake, according to a federal advisory panel.

The radiation could be more than four times as intense as the Los Alamos National Laboratory predicted in a safety analysis last year, according to a recent report  by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Continue reading →

July 11, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Strike and problem of decaying concrete at Canada’s nuclear power plants

those employees should also be demanding safety in their workplace as well. At least one Candu plant – Gentilly-2 in Quebec – is decaying .

The plant is one of many that regulators say is operating well past its expected life of 25 to 30 years

Major Problems Facing Canada’s Nuclear Sector http://www.care2.com/causes/major-problems-facing-canadas-nuclear-sector.html#ixzz20GmGP3Pi by Amy Boughner July 9, 2012 Canada’s nuclear industry is once again facing major issues. More than 800 Candu Energy employees  are on strike as of the morning of July 9, looking for higher wages. The scientists, engineers and technologists work at Candu plants in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Continue reading →

July 10, 2012 Posted by | Canada, employment, safety | Leave a comment

Decaying concrete a problem for aging nuclear power plants

concrete degradation has surfaced in the reactor containment buildings of three U.S. nuclear power stations. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently warned operators there that design strengths and assumptions used in original containment building design plans “may no longer hold true,” if ASR and its telltale cracks and fissures are present.

Decaying concrete raising concerns at Canada’s aging nuclear plants, National Post Ian MacLeod, Postmedia News  Jul 8, 2012 Decaying concrete at nuclear power plants is the latest concern for nuclear safety authorities.

At Quebec’s sole atomic power station, Gentilly-2, eroding concrete has prompted federal licensing officials to suggest that any provincial attempt to refurbish and re-license the 30-year-old plant must satisfy federal concerns over the aging concrete’s ability to stand up to another two or three decades of service.

The move comes as economic pressures force nuclear utilities to consider refurbishing their nuclear plants and operating them well past their 25- to 30-year initial lives. Continue reading →

July 9, 2012 Posted by | Canada, safety, USA | Leave a comment

266 fires on UK’s nuclear submarines

 “Any one of these fires could have had catastrophic consequences and the frequency of these incidents raises the most serious safety concerns.”

Nuclear submarine fire figures revealed BBC News 9 July 12, There have been 266 fires on nuclear submarines in the past 25 years, the Ministry of Defence has revealed. The incidents included 74 on ballistic missile submarines. Three happened while the vessels were in naval bases; one of these was on a ballistic missile submarine. Continue reading →

July 9, 2012 Posted by | incidents, UK | Leave a comment

Earthquake danger for nuclear power plants

Earthquakes are a fairly common occurrence in Japan, and so, if the earthquake was indeed the cause of the accident, it would call into question the safety of much of Japan’s nuclear fleet, including, presumably, the reactors at the Ohi plant.

The Nuclear Power Conundrum, Bill Chameides Dean, Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment HUFFINGTON POST,  07/06/20 “…. a report released on Thursday by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission concluded that last year’s accident in northeastern Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) was “profoundly a man-made disaster — that could and should have been foreseen and prevented.”

While the official story has been that the accident was caused by the “once-in-a-millennium” tsunami, the report concludes that damage resulting from the earthquake (before the tsunami struck) could have been liable as well. Continue reading →

July 9, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, safety | Leave a comment

Danger to nuclear power plants of extreme weather conditions

Nuclear plants must resist extreme weather http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Nuclear_plants_must_resist_extreme_weather.html?cid=33059156   Jul 6, 2012  Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have until the end of 2013 to demonstrate to the country’s safety watchdog that they are equipped to withstand weather conditions such as tornados, high winds, heavy snowfall and extreme temperatures. Continue reading →

July 7, 2012 Posted by | safety, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Delays in relicensing nuclear reactors, but they can continue to operate

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last month told the NRC to revisit rules governing the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the nation’s 104 operating reactors. The commission, the court said, failed to conduct an environmental review when it updated its so-called “waste confidence rule” in 2010.

More Nuclear Reactor License Renewals Delays: NRC’s Jaczko to Platts Energy Podium WASHINGTON, July 5, 2012  Market Watch,  — Speaking at a Platts Energy Podium event, the departing chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said Thursday that the agency may not be able to renew licenses for operating nuclear plants for “a few years” because of a federal court ruling, but the practical impact will be limited…..

.. Jaczko urged the agency to continue to make post-Fukushima improvements to nuclear plants mandatory and warned that there are signs of nuclear industry “pushback” against some of the measures proposed in the wake of the tsunami-induced shutdown of the Japanese nuclear facility. Continue reading →

July 7, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Workers exposed to radioactive uranium

Canadian workers exposed to yellowcake http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/canadian-workers-exposed-to-yellowcake/story-fn3dxix6-1226419628561  July 07, 2012  Three workers at a uranium processing plant in Canada were exposed to radioactive yellowcake when the lid blew off of a bulging container imported from the United States, US nuclear regulatory officials say. Continue reading →

July 7, 2012 Posted by | Canada, incidents, Uranium | Leave a comment

Gregory Jaczko urges Nuclear Regulatory Commission to put safety ahead of costs

Mr. Jaczko said the [nuclear safety] changes were necessary for safety and the NRC should require operators to make them, regardless of cost

U.S. Nuclear Regulator: Agency Divided on Japan Response By RYAN TRACY 5 July 12 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303684004577509021876463962.html WASHINGTON—The departing chief U.S. nuclear regulator said U.S. officials still can’t agree on a response to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi accident and urged his successor to “keep the pressure on” the nuclear industry. Continue reading →

July 6, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Japan’s Fukushima Daini nuclear plant might never restart

Doubts linger over Japan’s nuclear future, FT.com, By Mure Dickie, Tokyo, 4 July 12,  When the world’s appalled gaze turned to Japan’s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in March last year, few paid much attention to its sister atomic plant,  , Fukushima Daini,  , just 10 km south……

for all the seeming normality of the scene, Daini’s future is shrouded in doubt.

Work to fully restore safety systems damaged by the tsunami is expected to be completed by March. But even the new bosses of operator Tokyo Electric Power shy away from the question of whether Daini’s reactors will ever be turned back on. Continue reading →

July 5, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Earthquake risks under nuclear reactors at Tsuruga , Japan

Reactor restarts, but Japan’s energy policy in flux, NISA calls for reviews of fault lines near Fukui nuclear reactors July 04, 2012, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it will order reassessments of the seismic risk of geological fault lines that run near two nuclear facilities in Fukui Prefecture.

During a hearing session with expert seismologists on July 3, NISA said the potential damage from the fault lines should be studied further at the Mihama nuclear power plant, operated by Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO), and the Monju prototype fast breeder reactor in Tsuruga, run by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).

The Shiraki-Nyu fault, which is recognized as active, runs north-south about 1 kilometer east of the Mihama nuclear plant and 500 meters west of the Monju reactor. In addition, the premises of the Mihama nuclear plant contain nine fault lines, while nine others run under the Monju reactor…. Japan Atomic Power Co., operator of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, is conducting re-investigations after NISA pointed out that sliding along the Urazoko active fault, which cuts through the plant’s premises, could lead to movements of a fault line directly beneath the No. 2 reactor….

July 5, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Serious safety problems found in 8 of France’s nuclear reactors

This failure raises even more questions in risk facilities, such as the plant of Areva LaHague whose pools contain the equivalent of 130 cores of nuclear power plants …

Severe abnormalities detected on fuel pools of eight French reactors http://energie-climat.greenpeace.fr/graves-anomalies-detectees-sur-les-piscines-de-combustibles-de-8-reacteurs-francais   Greenpeace France 29 June 12 Network “power without atoms” received and analyzed internal documents released today to EDF and IRSN  who report anomalies on fuel pools of nuclear reactors Paluel, Flamanville and St. Alban. Abnormalities that could have serious consequences in case of earthquake. Continue reading →

June 30, 2012 Posted by | France, safety | Leave a comment

Radiation incident at Rawatbhata atomic power station in Rajasthan

Two suffer radioactive exposure at Rawatbhata atomic power station, The Hindu, 29 June 12,  Two workers of the Rawatbhata atomic power station in Rajasthan are under observation after they were found to have been exposed to radioactive tritium vapour beyond the permissible limit.

The incident took place on June 23 at Unit 5 when a modification work was on during a routine biennial shutdown…. A report on the NPCIL website said the incident occurred due to an “inadvertent” rise in tritium levels in a localised area of the containment building of
reactor-5. “The localised increase in the tritium [in turn] occurred due to the opening of the moderator cover gas line, where welding jobs were to be performed.”
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3585956.ece

June 30, 2012 Posted by | incidents, India | Leave a comment

Danger in relicensing Indian Point nuclear plant, says Connecticut Attorney General

Mr. Jepsen said that continued operation of the plants would “result in the accumulation of two more decades’ worth of spent nuclear fuel at a facility that is already overloaded.”
Without a federal long-term storage facility, the spent fuel will remain on site indefinitely.

Attorney general opposes relicensing Indian Point nuclear plant Ridgefield Press,  by Susan Kinsman, , 29 June 2012   Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said Thursday he opposes relicensing two Indian Point nuclear reactors in Buchanan, N.Y. until a thorough and complete investigation is made of environmental impacts from continuing their operation for 20 years, including spent fuel storage, the potential threat to public drinking water supplies and relocating large numbers of people in the event of an accident. Continue reading →

June 30, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

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