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USA nuclear plants and preparations for hurricanes

FACTBOX-U.S. nuclear plants in path of Hurricane Irene Aug 26, 2011 NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Nuclear power plants along the U.S. East Coast are bracing for the

impact of Hurricane Irene which is barreling toward North Carolina.
    Plant employees are securing equipment and readying extra staff for the weekend.
    Irene was located about 330 miles (530 km) south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as
a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles-per-hour (165 km/h) at 11 a.m. EDT.
[ID:nL4E7JQ33U]

Dominion Resources Inc (D.N: Quote), after shutting down its North Anna nuclear power station because

of an earthquake on Tuesday, is taking precautions at its other plants ahead of the storm.
    "We're going through the steps that we go through in anticipation of a major storm, making sure
everything is secure, that no loose material or construction material is hanging around and
checking staff," said Dan Genest, a spokesman in Richmond, Virginia.
    The two-unit, 1,950-megawatt North Anna nuclear plant  will remain shut through the storm. The
two-unit, 1,598-MW Surry plant was designed to withstand winds of 360 miles per hour.
    Dominion is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shut down one of the units in
advance of a storm with hurricane force winds (Category 1 at 74 miles per hour) with 24 hours
advanced notice, Genest said.
    If a storm is expected to continue, Dominion would be required to shut down the second unit
with 12 hours advanced notice.
STATE         OWNER         PLANT                 UNIT TYPE                 MWE 
------
Connecticut   Dominion      Millstone Unit 2      Combustion Engineering    884
Connecticut   Dominion      Millstone Unit 3      WH Four-Loop            1,227
Maryland      Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 Combustion Engineering    873
Maryland      Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 Combustion Engineering    862
Massachusetts Entergy       Pilgrim               GE-Type 3                 685
New Hampshire Entergy       Seabrook              WH Four-Loop            1,295
New Jersey    PSEG Nuclear  Salem Unit 1          WH Four-Loop            1,174
New Jersey    PSEG Nuclear  Salem Unit 2          WH Four-Loop            1,130
New Jersey    Exelon        Oyster Creek          GE Type 2                 619
New York      Entergy       Indian Point 2        WH Four-Loop            1,020
New York      Entergy       Indian Point 3        WH Four-Loop            1,025
N. Carolina   Progress      Brunswick Unit 1      GE Type 4                 938
N. Carolina   Progress      Brunswick Unit 1      GE Type 4                 937
N. Carolina   Progress      Shearon Harris Unit 1 WH Two-Loop               900
Pennsylvania  Exelon        Limerick 1            GE Type 4               1,134
Pennsylvania  Exelon        Limerick 2            GE Type 4               1,134
Virginia      Dominion      Surry Unit 1          WH Three-Loop             799
Virginia      Dominion      Surry Unit 2          WH Three-Loop             799
Virginia      Dominion      North Anna Unit 1     WH Three-Loop             980.5
Virginia      Dominion      North Anna Unit 2     WH Three-Loop             972.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Connecticut Dominion Millstone Unit 2 Combustion Engineering 884 Connecticut Dominion Millstone Unit 3 WH Four-Loop 1,227 Maryland Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 Combustion Engineering 873 Maryland Constellation Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 Combustion Engineering 862 Massachusetts Entergy Pilgrim GE-Type 3 685 New Hampshire Entergy Seabrook WH Four-Loop 1,295 New Jersey PSEG Nuclear Salem Unit 1 WH Four-Loop 1,174 New Jersey PSEG Nuclear Salem Unit 2 WH Four-Loop 1,130 New Jersey Exelon Oyster Creek GE Type 2 619 New York Entergy Indian Point 2 WH Four-Loop 1,020 New York Entergy Indian Point 3 WH Four-Loop 1,025 N. Carolina Progress Brunswick Unit 1 GE Type 4 938 N. Carolina Progress Brunswick Unit 1 GE Type 4 937 N. Carolina Progress Shearon Harris Unit 1 WH Two-Loop 900 Pennsylvania Exelon Limerick 1 GE Type 4 1,134 Pennsylvania Exelon Limerick 2 GE Type 4 1,134 Virginia Dominion Surry Unit 1 WH Three-Loop 799 Virginia Dominion Surry Unit 2 WH Three-Loop 799 Virginia Dominion North Anna Unit 1 WH Three-Loop 980.5 Virginia Dominion North Anna Unit 2 WH Three-Loop 972.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Key: GE - General Electric WH - Westinghouse Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Reporting by Jeanine Prezioso and compiled by David Sheppard, Joshua Schneyer and Matthew Robinson in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley)
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFN1E77O0ZF20110826.

August 27, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Firefighters grapple with fire within nuclear laboratory compund

Firefighters gain ground at Idaho nuclear lab, By Laura Zuckerman, SALMON, Idaho | Fri Aug 26, 2011 (Reuters) – Normal operations resumed on Friday but with fewer workers at a U.S. Energy Department nuclear lab in Idaho as firefighters gained ground against a brush fire that scorched 36,000 acres within the sprawling compound, officials there said.

The two-day-old blaze at the Idaho National Laboratory, an 890-square-mile complex with three active reactors in the high desert of eastern Idaho, presents “no known radiological hazard to the public at this time,” the lab said in a statement.

As the lightning-sparked fire had grown in size and intensity on Thursday evening, about 90 nonessential personnel were ordered out of a facility used for processing spent nuclear fuel and radioactive wastes.

Workers at another lab installation where spent radioactive fuel rods are cooled in storage ponds were told to take shelter inside due to heavy smoke, a lab official said……

The installation last year grappled with the largest fire in its history, a conflagration that charred 109,000 acres but did not cause major damage.

Fires have charred tens of thousands of acres across Idaho and the Northern Rockies in recent days, including parts of Montana, Yellowstone National Park and northwestern Wyoming…. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/27/us-wildfire-idaho-idUSTRE77P65E20110827

August 27, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

USA declares that Gaddafi’s nuclear materials are secure

U.S.: Gadhafi Chemical, Nuclear Materials Secure, ABC News 25 Aug 11,  — American officials said today that Moammar Gadhafi’s stock of chemical and nuclear materials are secure, amid fears they could fall into the wrong hands as the longtime leader’s regime falls.

“Our judgment is that they remain secure,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters. “We have no reason to believe that there is anything else of that nature anywhere else.”……

The State Department has already spent $3 million on contracts to help destroy weapons and mines inside parts of Libya that have been taken over by rebel forces. Gadhafi had promised in 2003 to dismantle its nuclear program as part of an agreement that eventually led the U.S. to take Libya off the list of states that sponsor terrorism in 2006.

After the agreement, the U.S. sent millions in aid to the Gadhafi regime “focused on bolstering Libya’s commitments to renouncing weapons of mass destruction,” according to State Department records….http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-gadhafi-nuclear-chemical-weapons-secure/story?id=14381560

August 26, 2011 Posted by | Libya, safety | Leave a comment

Legitimate fears about the safety of USA nuclear plants

Why Recent Earthquakes Should Make You Worry About Nuclear Power, By  | August 24, 2011, BNet A 5.8 magnitude earthquake — the largest to hit the East Coast in nearly seven decades — caused the shutdown of two nuclear reactors located less than 15 miles from the epicenter of the temblor. The back-up diesel generator system worked as designed (well, except for the one with the coolant leak), and by late Tuesday night operator Dominion Resources had restored offsite power.

Yet instead of putting folks at ease, the incident actually raises legitimate fears about the safety of U.S. nuclear power plants.

Consider, for starters, the fact that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken more than six years to develop new safety standards to address higher-than-expected seismic risks. It turns out that seismic risks to nuclear plants in the eastern United States were greater than the NRC had previously realized, iWatch.org reported.

North Anna, a twin-reactor nuclear facility about 85 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., was one of four plants with a seismic hazard higher than previously thought. (It’s also the plant with the coolant leak that shut down one of its backup diesels.)……http://www.bnet.com/blog/clean-energy/why-recent-earthquakes-should-make-you-worry-about-nuclear-power/6199

August 25, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Risk of radioactive “dirty bomb” in Libya

Former UN nuclear expert warns of ‘dirty bomb’ Research centre has large quantities of radioisotopes and radioactive waste even after programme was abandoned, Gulf News, Reuters, August 25, 2011,Vienna: A research centre near Tripoli has stocks of nuclear material that could be used to make a “dirty bomb”, a former senior UN inspector said yesterday, warning of possible looting during turmoil in Libya.

Seeking to mend ties with the West, Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi agreed in 2003 to abandon efforts to acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons — a move that brought him in from the cold and helped end decades of Libyan isolation.

A six-month popular insurgency has now forced Gaddafi to abandon his stronghold in the Libyan capital but continued gunfire suggests the resistance fighters have not completely triumphed yet.

Olli Heinonen, head of UN nuclear safeguards inspections worldwide until last year, pointed to substantial looting that took place at Iraq’s Tuwaitha atomic research facility near Baghdad after Saddam Hussain was toppled in 2003.

In Iraq, “most likely due to pure luck, the story did not end in a radiological disaster,” Heinonen said. In Libya, “nuclear security concerns still linger,” the former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in an online commentary.http://gulfnews.com/news/region/libya/former-un-nuclear-expert-warns-of-dirty-bomb-1.856887

 

August 25, 2011 Posted by | Libya, safety | Leave a comment

Safety concerns over USA nuclear reactors, after earthquake

Tuesday’s quake, which was felt along the East Coast as far north as Canada, was the region’s largest since a 5.9 quake hit New York State in 1944…..

Quake raises safety concerns as nuclear plant shut, By Eileen O’Grady and Joshua Schneyer, HOUSTON/NEW YORK   Aug 23, 2011  (Reuters) – The largest earthquake to hit the East Coast of the United States in 67 years raised concerns on Tuesday about the safety of the country’s nuclear power plants. Continue reading →

August 25, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Risk of earthquakes to USA’s East coast nuclear plants

Nuclear quake risk on East Coast: 1 plant down, 12 shook, , Human Rights Examiner, August 24, 2011 

Nuclear energy plants keep Americans at risk: ‘Redesigning from Scratch’ needed As a big blue Freedom Bus rolls through cities proving nuclear energy, like other non-renewable sources, is inhumane, twelve U.S. nuclear plants were shaken, eight declared “unusual events,” and two extra risky reactors shut down during Tuesday’s east coast intense quake after which it was reported that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) previously “meant to identify” earthquake risks at North Anna nuclear energy plant near Tuesday’s epicenter, as various parts, systems, and hose stations at that facility “are not seismically designed.”

Continue reading on Examiner.com Nuclear quake risk on East Coast: 1 plant down, 12 shook – National Human Rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/nuclear-quake-risk-on-east-coast-1-plant-still-down-12-shook?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1W5QTDFzu

August 25, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Doubts about the safety of India’s nuclear energy programme

How safe is India’s nuclear energy programme?A. Gopalakrishnan in his recent article said, “DAE management classified the audit reports as ‘top secret’ and shelved them. No action was taken on the committee’s findings. LiveMint.com,23 Aug 11,”M. P. Ram Mohan Continue reading →

August 23, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Belarus freezes plan to give upits enriched uranium

Belarus hangs on to enriched uranium cache, Detroit Free Press |Aug 20, 2011, Belarus has frozen a plan aimed at getting the country to give up its Soviet-era stockpile of highly enriched uranium with U.S. assistance in response to new U.S. sanctions, the government said Friday.

The U.S. conducted a longtime effort to secure nuclear materials in former Soviet nations to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

The U.S. and the European Union introduced sanctions against President Alexander Lukashenko’s government for its crackdown on a political opposition group……  Belarus hangs on to enriched uranium cache | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

August 23, 2011 Posted by | Belarus, safety | Leave a comment

Silex laser uranium enrichment opening opportunities for nuclear terrorism

Dr. Slakey of the American Physical Society noted that the State Department a dozen years ago warned that the success of Silex could “renew interest” in laser enrichment for good or ill — to light cities or destroy them.

Laser Advances in Nuclear Fuel Stir Terror Fear, NYT, By ,August 20, 2011 Twenty miles southwest of Sydney, in a wooded region, Horst Struve and Michael Goldsworthy kept tinkering with the idea at a government institute. Finally, around 1994, the two men judged that they had a major advance.

The inventors called their idea Silex, for separation of isotopes by laser excitation. “Our approach is completely different,” Dr. Goldsworthy, a physicist, told a Parliamentary hearing… Continue reading →

August 22, 2011 Posted by | safety, technology, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Brown’s Ferry Nuclear Plant’s safety violations confirmed

NRC confirms earlier harsh safety finding for Browns Ferry Unit 1, August 17, 2011, By Brian Lawson, The Huntsville Times  HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Federal nuclear power regulators said in a letter released today they have confirmed their original finding that a malfunctioning valve at TVA’s Browns Ferry nuclear plant Unit 1 represented a significant safety violation.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which in June rejected the Tennessee Valley Authority’s appeal of the finding, said it enlisted a group of NRC staff members who were not involved in the original assessment to review the findings.

The staff also found that the “red” finding, the NRC’s harshest grade was justified. Such a finding requires repair of the problem and will lead to more inspections at Browns Ferry….. http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/08/nrc_confirms_earlier_harsh_saf.html


August 18, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

IAEA wants to strengthen current weak international nuclear safety rules

Currently there are no mandatory, international nuclear safety regulations, only IAEA recommendations which national regulators are in charge of enforcing. The U.N. agency conducts review missions, but only at a member state’s invitation

U.N. atom body wants wider nuclear safety checks, Reuters, By Fredrik Dahl,Aug 15, 2011

* Fukushima disaster prompted global nuclear rethink

* IAEA seeks strengthened action to prevent any repeat

* Proposes expansion of international safety checks Continue reading →

August 16, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Serious safet problems in Hanford nuclear waste cleanup plans

The Hanford project is the most important environmental cleanup program in the nation. It seeks to prevent 56 million gallons of radioactive sludge in underground tanks, some of which are leaking, from contaminating the nearby Columbia River.
Safety doubts raised at U.S. nuclear waste cleanup project, Engineers and scientists say equipment being installed by Bechtel Corp. at the Hanford site in Washington state poses risks, but the Energy Department is letting work continue. By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2011 The Energy Department has asserted that Bechtel Corp. underplayed safety risks from equipment it is installing at the nation’s largest nuclear waste cleanup project, according to government records. Continue reading →

August 15, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Palo Verde Nuclear Plant – emergency plans found wanting

planning only for a 10-mile evacuation zone around reactors is inadequate because it doesn’t take into consideration the possibility of having to evacuate a larger area and the consequences of civil disorder that might ensue from gridlocked roads in the scramble to flee…… emergency plans wrongly assume that a severe problem at a nuclear facility would not be accompanied by other emergencies. 

Palo Verde nuclear response a worry, Palo Verde’s plans for evacuations debated, by Ryan Randazzo – Aug. 14, 2011, The Arizona Republic, People living within 10 miles of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix are well-aware they are in the evacuation zone of Arizona’s only nuclear power plant.

Those 11,545 residents get an annual calendar from the plant’s owners with instructions on what to do in the remote event of a disaster….. Continue reading →

August 15, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Secrecy in the the nuclear priesthood of military, industry and academia

 David Biello, the energy and climate editor at Scientific American Online, describes the nuclear industry is a
relatively small, exclusive club.

“The interplay between academia and also the military and industry is very tight……with this exclusivity comes a culture of secrecy – “a nuclear priesthood,” said Biello, which makes it very difficult to parse out a straightforward answer in the very technical and highly politicised field. ….

Nuclear safety: A dangerous veil of secrecy, Aljazeera, Dorothy Parvaz   11 Aug 2011 “…..Kathleen Sullivan, an anti-nuclear specialist and disarmament education consultant with the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, said it’s not surprising that research critical of the nuclear energy and weapons isn’t coming out of universities and departments that participate in nuclear research and development.

“It (the influence) of the nuclear lobby could vary from institution to institution,” said Sullivan. “If you look at the history of nuclear weapons manufacturing in the United States, you can see that a lot of research was influenced perverted, construed in a certain direction.” Continue reading →

August 12, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

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