Industrialized Cyclist Notepad


Salem nuclear plant

While worriers worried about Oyster Creek, several plants in the path of the storm experienced “events.” Salem: atmospheric steam dump…

NRC: Current Event Notification Report for October 30, 2012

MANUAL REACTOR TRIP FROM 100% POWER

“This report if being made under the requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B), Actuation of the Reactor Protection System While Critical, except preplanned, and under the requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A), Valid Actuation of Listed System, except preplanned.

“Salem Unit 1 was operating at 100% reactor power when a loss of 4 condenser circulators required a manual reactor trip in accordance with station procedures. The cause of the 4 circulators being removed from service was due to a combination of high river level and detritus from Hurricane Sandy’s transit.

“All control rods inserted. A subsequent loss of the 2 remaining circulators required transition of decay heat removal from condenser steam dumps to the 11-14 MS10s (atmospheric steam dump). Decay heat removal is from the 11/12 Aux Feed Pumps to all 4 steam generators via the 11-14 MS10s. 11/12/13 AFW pumps started due to low level on all steam generators due to shrink from full power operation (this is a normal response). All safety related equipment functioned as expected. No one has been injured. As an additional note, Hurricane Sandy had recently moved past artificial island. Salem Unit 1 is currently in Mode 3. Salem Unit 2 reactor is currently in its 2R19 refueling outage and is shutdown and defueled with no fuel movement in progress.”

via NRC: Current Event Notification Report for October 30, 2012.

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What happens when the water’s too warm

Millstone nuke plant shuts down, unable to cool reactors with excessively warm seawater; Coldstone Creamery closes early, unable to cool iced treats with excessively warm coldstones.

Unit 2 of Millstone Power Station has occasionally shut for maintenance or other issues, but in its 37-year history it has never gone down due to excessively warm water, spokesman Ken Holt said on Monday.

Water from Long Island Sound is used to cool key components of the plant and is discharged back into the sound. The water cannot be warmer than 75 degrees and following the hottest July on record has been averaging 1.7 degrees above the limit, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

via Warm Seawater Forces Conn. Nuclear Plant Shutdown – ABC News.



Four reactors shut down on East Coast

Constellation Nuclear Energy Group’s 630-megawatt Nine Mile Point 1 nuclear reactor in New York automatically shut on Tuesday due to high neutron flux — meaning neutrons are not equally spread around the reactor core. Power traders guessed it could have been a faulty sensor and the unit could be back soon.

Constellation Nuclear is a venture between French power company Electricite de France SA (EDF) and Chicago power company Exelon Corp.

A unit at Exelon’s Limerick nuclear plant in Pennsylvania shut early Wednesday, according to power traders. Officials at the company and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission could not confirm the Limerick shutdown.

Constellation Nuclear 855-MW took the Unit 1 at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland offline by early Wednesday due to a small leak in an instrument line. The company said it had already fixed the plant and was ramping up the unit.

North Carolina-based Duke Energy’s 846-MW Unit 1 at the Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina also shut by early Wednesday. Details about the Oconee shutdown were not immediately available to comment.

via Four U.S. power reactors shut & NYC sweats during heat wave – CNBC.



Leak found at Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant last week

While we’re on the subject of super old and leaky nuke plants. This plant’s near Toledo, and is also up for a controversial license renewal.

During the performance of MODE 3 engineering walkdown inspections in accordance with procedure DB-PF-03010 (ASME Section III, Class 1 and 2), with the RCS at Normal Operating Temperature and Pressure, a pressure boundary leak was identified on the Reactor Coolant Pump (RCP) 1-2 1st seal cavity vent line upstream weld of 3/4 inch small bore pipe socketweld at a 90 degree elbow between the RCP pump and valve RC-407 (1st Seal Cavity Vent Isolation). The plant was in MODE 3 at Normal Operating Pressure and Normal Operating Temperature (NOP/NOT) for the inspections.

“The plant entered Technical Specification (TS) Limiting Condition for Operation (LCO) 3.4.13, ‘RCS Operational Leakage,’ Condition B and procedure DB-OP-02522. ‘Small RCS Leaks,’ abnormal operating procedure. Plant cooldown to comply with LCO 3.4.13, Condition B, Required Action B.2 is in progress. The cause and resolution are under evaluation.

via Leak found at Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant during restart from month-long outage | Enformable.



50-mile radius around Palisades nuke plant

…which is leaking, perhaps exploding, etc.

The 41-year-old plant’s license was due to expire, but in 2007 the NRC granted a 20-year extension.


click to enlarge
Via the Palisade license-renewal application (pdf): http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/palisades/palisades_er.pdf



Hiroaki Koide: Promoters of nuclear power should eat contaminated food

Why should little kids have to eat it? An interesting moral dilemma.

クリーンな食べ物はない。

There is no clean food.

残念ながら福島の事故は起きてしまい、全地球に汚染を広げてしまっている。そのため、クリーンとか安全という食べ物というものはありません。

Sadly, the Fukushima accident happened, and has spread contamination throughout the world. So there is no food that is clean or safe.

ただし、猛烈に汚れている食べ物から比較的安全な食べ物まで、連続的に分布している。それをどのように受け入れるかが問題。

But there is a continuous variety of food from extremely contaminated food to relatively safe food. The issue is how to accept [allocate] such food.

猛烈な汚染食品は原子力を進めていた方々に食べてもらう。東電幹部、原子力を進めてきた政治家や、学者に食べてもらう。そういう仕組みを作りたい。

Extremely contaminated food should be eaten by people who have promoted nuclear power. TEPCO top management, and politicians and scholars who have promoted nuclear power. I would like to build such a system.

後は、原子力をここまで許してきてしまった大人たちに、汚染された食べ物を食べてもらって、子どもたちに汚染されていないものを食べさせてあげる。

The rest of the contaminated food should be eaten by adults, who have allowed nuclear power to this extent, so that the non-contaminated food goes to children.

via EX-SKF:

Hiroaki Koide: "Adults in Japan Should Eat Contaminated Food" to Atone for the Sins of Having Allowed Nuke Power | EXSKF.



The Tubes of San Onofre

Thousands of brittle tubes. Seems like a bad plan.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday it was sending a special team of inspectors to try to determine why the metal tubes, which were installed in Unit 3 in 2010, have become frail enough to pose a risk of leaks.

“This is a significant issue,” said NRC spokeswoman Lara Uselding. “A tube rupture is really the concern.”

Investigators have been looking into excessive wear on tubes in Unit 3 and its twin, Unit 2, which has been off line for maintenance and refueling. In a $670 million overhaul, two huge steam generators, each containing 9,700 tubes, were replaced in Unit 2 in fall 2009 and a year later in Unit 3.

via 4 more tubes fail in tests at Calif. nuke plant – BusinessWeek.



San Onofre
January 31, 2012, 22:39
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I hope they have their back-up generators up on stilts or something

…Plant Scherer, Georgia.

From Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005, USGS (pdf).