safety « nuclear-news

San Onofre nuclear plant – far from safe

Fairewinds report blasts safety claims at San Onofre nuclear plant 89.3 KPCC, | By Lisa Brenner , 15 May 12, San Onofre is twisting in the breeze of the new Fairewinds safety report released by activist group Friends of the Earth.

The study raises serious doubts about safety at the Southern California nuclear facility, and says running at reduced power will not solve the tubing trouble that has plagued the plant.

Southern California Edison recently disclosed a tentative plan to run the twin reactors at an unspecified lower power, at least for several months.

Engineers believed reduced power would ease the vibration causing the unusual deterioration of tubes inside the steam generators.

The Fairewinds report, however, says running at reduced power may actually make the damage worse and increase the possibility of cascading safety failures.

The report also expands a previous allegation that Edison misled federal regulators about modifications to the generators. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) disputes that claim….. http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2012/05/15/6127/fairewinds-report-blows-steam-generator-safety-cla/

May 16, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

‘Thrill-seeking’ nuclear reactor operator hijacks car

Authorities: Nuclear engineer sought ‘thrill’ in DuPage hijacking Daily Herald, 5/11/2012 A man who operates reactors at a nuclear power plant was “thrill seeking” when he put on a mask and hijacked a woman’s car at gunpoint, DuPage County authorities said Friday. Continue reading →

May 13, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents | 1 Comment

Anarchist’s attack on nuclear executive in Italy

The letter takes aim at Adinolfi, calling him a “sorcerer of the atomic industry” and criticising him for claiming in an interview that none of the deaths during the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011 were due to nuclear incidents.

“Adinolfi knows well that it is only a matter of time before a European Fukushima kills on our continent,” the letter stated.

Italian anarchists kneecap nuclear executive and threaten more shootings Group named after Greek anarchist warns it will strike seven more times at nuclear firm’s parent company, Finmeccanica, Tom Kington in Rome guardian.co.uk, 11 May 2012 An anarchist group claimed responsibility on Friday for kneecapping an Italian nuclear engineering executive and warned it would strike another seven times at the firm’s parent company, Finmeccanica. Continue reading →

May 13, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety | Leave a comment

Offline nuclear reactors still dangerous, need constant cooling

News Navigator: What danger is still posed by offline nuclear reactors? Answers by Taku Nishikawa, Science & Environment News Department The Mainichi, 8 May 12, As of May 5, all nuclear reactors in Japan were offline. The Mainichi answers common questions readers may have about the safety and dangers of offline nuclear plants.

Question: With the reactors offline, has the danger of nuclear accidents disappeared?

Answer: The danger is likely less than while the reactors are running, but it still exists. Nuclear plants make power by turning turbines with the heat from the chained fission of Uranium-235 in nuclear fuel.
This chained fission is stopped in an offline reactor, but fuel rods continue to release “decay heat” as various unstable nuclei created during the reactors’ operation until now naturally break down. This decay heat has to continually be removed.

Q: What will happen if it is not removed? Continue reading →

May 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, Reference, safety, technology | Leave a comment

Damaged South Korean nuclear reactor to shut down for 2 years

Uljin Nuclear Reactor Faces 2-Year Shutdown The Chosunilbo, 10 May 12, Additional faults have been detected in the No. 4 reactor at the Uljin Nuclear Power Plant, which has been undergoing repairs, and a complete shutdown now seems inevitable……..

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation has found that damage in the No. 4 reactor, where operations were halted due to defects in the machine that condensates steam from the turbine, is more serious than expected and tentatively decided to replace the steam generator.

Replacing it will take one or two years, so the reactor will not operate until at least next summer. It generates 1 million kW, or the capacity of two thermal power stations. …
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/05/10/2012051001397.html

May 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, South Korea | Leave a comment

Edison company backs off about re-opening San Onofre nuclear plant

VIDEO http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-backs-away-from-reopening-date.html. San Onofre nuclear plant backs away from reopening date L.A. Times, May 9, 2012 Southern California Edison backed off from comments made last week by one of its executives, who said the company hopes to have the San Onofre nuclear plant — shuttered due to equipment issues — back online and operating at a reduced capacity in
June….

NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko released a statement Monday, saying the agency has yet to receive a written statement from Edison to say the required steps have been taken to investigate and make a plan to fix the issues at the plant and “any discussion of a date for
the restart of Unit 2 or Unit 3 is clearly premature.”

The plant has been shuttered for more than three months because of problems with excessive wear in steam generator tubes. On Tuesday, Edison reported it has taken about 1,300 tubes out of service because of wear — 510 in Unit 2 and 807 in Unit 3 — representing a little more than 3% of the total number of tubes in the plant, and a higher number than the company had previously reported…….
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-backs-away-from-reopening-date.html.

May 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

The risk of weakening safety standards at USA nuclear weapons facilities

Don’t let foxes guard our nuclear henhouse THE HILL, By Katherine M. Fuchs, program director, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability – 05/09/12 Today the House Armed Services Committee will debate the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), possibly overturning 25 years of safety standards at our nation’s weapons facilities. During this debate members of this committee will have a choice – they can protect communities around nuclear sites and the employees who work there or they can go on record as turning their back on those safety standards.

There are several sections of the NDAA that relate directly to nuclear safety and pose a threat to security. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this bill is the fact that it would overturn the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for over two decades. Continue reading →

May 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Japan’s idle nuclear reactors still need huge electricity to keep them safe

The end of nuclear, CLIMATE SPECTATOR, Matthew Wright , 8 May 2012 “………When they get too old to operate safely or get shut early due to disaster they still need to be propped up on life support, to manage the site cleanup, to manage their waste and to cool that waste.

In fact right now, Japan’s 54 idled reactors are using the electricity equivalent to the output of three entire reactors, just to provide cooling and other critical services. These will need to go on being delivered to the sites for years even if the reactors are to be completely decommissioned.

That means that nuclear reactors are competing with hospitals, schools and factories for scarce electricity supplies. Due to inherent safety risks, the reactors get power ahead of everyone else in the country. It doesn’t matter if you’re in an emergency ward needing urgent medical attention to save your life, the reactors’ safety comes first……
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/nuclear-power-and-Japan-end-of-nuclear-Fukushima-d-pd20120508-U3UUW?opendocument&src=rss

May 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

New Vogtle nuclear reactor – delays and unexpected costs

Utility: Building schedule slips on Ga. nuke plant The Telegraph, Middle Georgia, By RAY HENRY — Associated Press May 9, 2012 The timeline for building a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant in Georgia has slipped seven months, while the Southern Co. faces a dispute over who should pay for $400 million in unanticipated costs, utility executives said Wednesday. Continue reading →

May 10, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Japan is no further on in getting new nuclear regulator

it would lead to problems in the future if the government rushes to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors without changing the current framework, in which the nuclear regulator is under the auspices of its promoter, the industry ministry.

New nuclear regulatory agency still up in air, Mainichi, 7 May 12 TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan entered a rare period on Sunday of having no nuclear power supply following last year’s
Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster, without seeing much progress on shaping a new nuclear regulatory agency that could play a key role in addressing public concerns over the safety of atomic power.
The government plans to establish a new agency under the Environment Ministry amid criticism that the existing Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency lacks teeth because it is under the umbrella of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, a promoter of nuclear power.
But parliamentary deliberations on a bill submitted by the government to launch the new agency on April 1 have not yet started and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party has complained that the organization’s independence would not be sufficiently secure under the government plan. Continue reading →

May 7, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Nuclear physicist plotted terrorist attack

Nuclear researcher sentenced in France for plotting attack (Reuters) 4 May 12, – A Paris court sentenced a Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist to five years in prison on Friday on charges of helping to plot an attack in France in 2009 with an al Qaeda militant in Algeria.

Adlene Hicheur, 35, a former researcher at the prestigious CERN physics lab in Geneva, was found guilty of providing logistical advice to Mustapha Debchi, a militant for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), using encrypted messages sent via the Internet.

Hicheur said he had been charged over his opinions rather than his acts, but prosecutors called him a “technical attack adviser” and said he had provided Debchi with a terrorist manual….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/us-france-crime-idUSBRE8431CK20120504

May 5, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Apprehension in Kansas about radioactive waste shipments

Kansas regulates radioactive-waste shipments far more loosely than nearby Missouri, Iowa and other Midwestern states through which such waste travels

No one who ships nuclear waste through Kansas is required to tell state authorities of their plans

More nuclear waste headed to Kansas, By Gene Meyer | Kansas Reporter, 4 May 12, FAIRWAY — Missouri lawmakers may relax their state’s monitoring of radioactive-waste haulers, a move that worries some Kansans. Continue reading →

May 5, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Savannah River Nuclear Site – inadequate radiation protection

NRC: SRS Saltstone facility’s radiation exposure may exceed limit in 10K years Aiken Standard 5/4/2012 By ANNA DOLIANITIS – Staff writer – email:adolianitis@aikenstandard.com A recent report released by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed concern that the Saltstone Disposal Facility at the Savannah River Site may not meet the standards to prevent radiation exposure to the Site’s surrounding population in the long term….. Continue reading →

May 5, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

At critical time, San Diego radiation monitor was not working

San Diego Radiation Monitor Not Working During Fukushima Crisis, Audit Reveals San Diego Reader, Matt Potter, May 3, 2012 An April 19 audit by the Inspector General of the United States Environmental Protection Agency has revealed that major components of the government’s radiation monitoring and reporting system, including an air sampling device in San Diego, were not functioning during last year’s Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in Japan.

“On March 11, 2011, at the time of the Japan nuclear incident, 25 of the 124 installed RadNet monitors, or 20 percent, were out of service for an average of 130 days,” auditors said.

San Diego’s monitoring device was one of 11 said to be out of service for more than 140 days, according to the findings….. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/may/03/san-diego-radiation-monitor-not-working-during-fuk/

May 5, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Paragliding into a French nuclear power plant!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/02/france-nuclear-greenpeace-idUSL5E8G2F0C20120502

* Greenpeace enters nuclear site, drops smoke flare

* Intrusion just days before presidential runoff

* France’s high use of nuclear is issue in campaign

* Man entered Civaux plant’s security zone (Adds separate intrusion, details)

PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) – A Greenpeace activist dropped a smoke flare as he flew over a French nuclear reactor on a paraglider on Wednesday, seeking to draw attention to what green activists call gaps in nuclear security four days before a presidential election runoff. The plant’s owner, EDF, confirmed an engine-powered paraglider had landed within its Bugey nuclear site in southeastern France. [ note – there’s a brief video of this flight at: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/02/11504375-greenpeace-bombs-french-nuclear-reactor-could-it-happen-in-us?lite ]