News On STP: Plant Outside Supporting Infrastructure Including Employees Deteriorating At A Fast Pace.

Update Sept 1

Maybe it would be more safer and considerate with the employee families if the plant would have shut down as soon as they seen the unprecedented precipitation rate of 50 inches. Say a day ahead of the hurricane. There is going to be unprecedented historic flooding throughout the area. Many plant families are going to be put in danger...we want to other spouse to be home with the family. We are going to use a skeleton crew on site, everyone goes home for the hurricane. The home employees would call in to check on the skeleton staff employee families  and step in if help was needed.      

...Bay City: Just above STP. It sounds bad.

The Colorado River is forecast to swell, hitting near-record levels Wednesday night, as dams are being forced to release water to avoid collapse. Torrents of water will be heading to Matagorda County, leading to the mandatory evacuation of Bay City, its county seat. Some county residents were leaving for the second time, having returned home after the first evacuation only to get back on the road.
“This means there will absolutely be no emergency response, including law enforcement, fire and EMS,  in all areas of the county,” said Bay City Mayor Mark A. Bricker, demanding residents leave by 1 p.m. Monday. But Midfield, about 50 miles northeast of Victoria, isn’t too concerned. When asked about losing county services until the water recedes, many residents simply laughed.

As Harvey raged, workers remained at nuclear plant's controls 

Mark Chediak, Bloomberg

August 31, 2017

As Hurricane Harvey bore down on them, workers remained at the controls of Texas's biggest nuclear power plant, keeping the lights on for 2 million customers even while some of their own homes were flooded.

Teams of employees have been stationed at the South Texas Project power plant since early Friday. While the site is 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Houston and avoided the worst of the deadly storm, it had to cope with heavy rain and flooding on nearby roads that made it difficult for people to get around.

Plant technicians and engineers were organized into special storm-team crews, working rotating 12-hour shifts, washing clothes in the showers and sleeping on cots set up before Harvey hit. Throughout the storm, the concrete-domed twin reactors have continued operating at full capacity, providing electricity for Texans who can still get service amid a historic flood.

"Really, it's a matter of getting the sleep you need so you are prepared and ready for the next shift," said Bob Tatro, a 30-year veteran at the plant and a shift manager for a storm crew that's kept the plant operating.

When the Gator Grill cafeteria ran short of food, operators convinced a local grocery store manager to open up to replenish supplies despite a mandatory evacuation order. Another run was made to a local branch of Wal-Mart Stores to buy $2,000 worth of underwear, socks and other essentials for plant workers.

"One of the things we'll review after the storm is having washing machines on site," said Buddy Eller, a spokesman for the facility, which is owned by NRG Energy, CPS Energy and Austin Energy.

Despite as many as 10 inches of rain on Monday, the nuclear plant near the Gulf of Mexico hasn't been threatened by the rising waters in nearby tributaries, Eller said. Winds from Harvey never reached hurricane force at the site, which would have required the plant to shut down, he said. There was no flooding at the facility, which is near a wildlife nature preserve.

Workers have been making sure the site's storm drains are clear and there is enough potable water, said Kurt Moorefield, a shift manager who has been at the plant since Friday.

"The biggest issue is finding other employees who can safely make it back to the site," Eller said. Some workers' homes have flooded and the company was focused not only on keeping the plant running but helping to assist employees displaced by the storm, he said.

Tatro, 55, said he had been texting with loved ones to get updates. His family evacuated to stay with relatives and friends near Austin, he said. His house in Bay City is near the Colorado River, which is expected to crest on Thursday.

"There are some things that are within my control. Flooding isn't one of them," he said by phone from the plant. "I just chose to not let it wear me down."

About 250 operators, engineers, maintenance and other support staff have been stationed at the 2,700-megawatt plant since the storm hit. Additional workers were trickling in to provide help as the weather permitted, and the company was looking to transition back to normal staffing levels, Eller said.

Harvey could end up being the most costly weather disaster in U.S. history, with its relentless rains flooding thousands of homes, crippling the energy hub around Houston and killing at least 46 people, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Shift manager Moorefield, 48, said that he had heard Wednesday from his wife that there was water up to his house but no water in it. "So far, so good," he said by phone.

Grand Glulf: Just Don't Have The Capacity To Keep Their Equipment Operating

Another shutdown with weeks operations at reduced capacity.

Power Reactor Event Number: 52936 Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4 State: MS Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: RYAN MEYER HQ OPS Officer: MARK ABRAMOVITZ Notification Date: 08/29/2017 Notification Time: 14:42 [ET] Event Date: 08/29/2017 Event Time: 12:00 [CDT] Last Update Date: 08/29/2017 Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(i) - PLANT S/D REQD BY TS Person (Organization): VINCENT GADDY (R4DO) Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode 1 N Y 65 Power Operation 65 Power Operation Event Text TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION REQUIRED SHUTDOWN "On August 22, 2017 at 2321 hours, Grand Gulf Nuclear Station entered Technical Specification conditions for three Limiting Condition for Operations (LCOs) not met due to Residual Heat Removal 'A' (RHR 'A') being declared inoperable. "LCOs not met: 1) 3.5.1 for one low pressure ECCS [Emergency Core Cooling System] injection/spray subsystem. 2) 3.6.1.7 for one RHR containment spray subsystem, and 3) 3.6.2.3 for one RHR suppression pool cooling subsystem. "The station has made the decision to shutdown the plant based on the results of troubleshooting performed on the RHR 'A' pump. The restoration of RHR 'A' pump will not be completed prior to the end of the 7 day LCO completion time. "Grand Gulf Nuclear Station initiated plant shutdown required by Technical Specifications 3.5.1, 3.6.1.7, and 3.6.2.3 at 1200 hours CDT on 08/29/2017 due to expected restoration of RHR 'A' exceeding the completion time of 7 days prior to restoring operability." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

Hurricane Harvey: South Texas Nuclear Plant Is IN Crisis Over Flooding

Update 8/30:

All sort of roads down and flooded. I doubt they could carry out their evacuation. The lower Colorado River still hasn't reached their peak.  

Right in the epicenter of extreme rainfall and it will continue for days.

A string of dams upstream...over topping levees and dams occurring and more around the corner. Dam failure cascade is a big worry.

Colorado River flow abutting plant has long gone past historic record.

National Weather Service "DIRE" Warning: this kind of widespread and prolonged precipitation event has never been seen before USA and the end is extremely unpredictable.

The Weather Channel and CNN in panic mode at the size of it.

 Nuclear Plant lost communication to outside!!!

Texas officials consumed in a unprecedented humanitarian crisis surrounding Houston...STP  can't communicate with state officials.

Soviet and Chinese Satellites Above Seventh Fleet Headquarters

Basically in my Navy days inside American traitors were disclosing submarine locations. Fat Leonard basically was doing that today.

They take us for dopes. So the Navy says their ships dim their ship lights and navigation gears in order to maximize stealthiest to their adversaries in the night. It is based on truth or diversion?

It is common knowledge the Soviets and Chinese have sophisticated satellites parked above the Seventh Fleet headquarters. They have sophisticated technical means including infrared to detect Naval vessels locations days and night. And I imagine Navel vessels give a identifier or signature to the satellites.

So stealthiest plays no role here unless there are leftover WWII  admirals on the nation's payroll. I am not saying turning off the navigation lights and aids is not happening, there are just doing it for another stupid reason.

It sounds like basically "whistling is the dark" and inflating the prices of ships.  

Seventh Fleet War Fighting Capabilities Much More Degraded Than Seamanship!!!

Basically traveling through the oceans would maintain a certain level of minimal seamanship proficiency. It in a high traffic area would the seamanship fails. 

The weapons systems undergo no such minimum proficiencies. An accident seen to the public basically outs the poor proficiencies with seamanship fleet wise. The reliability and warfighting capabilities remain a dangerous black box. You can't say a dysfunction remains only active in one section of the organization. It is defused into throughout the organization.

I expect the war fighting capabilities of these ships to be much more degraded than seamanship. It is because they are much more non transparent. The only real way we would test the war fighting capabilities is in a active engagement. 

Deadly Navy accidents in the Pacific raise questions over a force stretched too thin

The inside track on Washington politics. 

Constant deployments, a shrinking number of ships and high demands on crews have frayed the U.S. Navy, according to naval experts and current and former Navy officers, leading to four major incidents at sea this year and the deaths of 17 sailors.

Delayed Recovery of Dead in USS John McCain?

Is this another sign of incompetence with the 7th Fleet. Why couldn't the Navy without cost worry prepare a dry dock for her. Weld a iron plate on the hole and pull her to the dry dock on a emergency bases.  If there is a ship in there, pay whatever it takes to button her up and remove her from the dry-dock. Then put the McCain in there. That way you could dewater the damage spaces and do a proper search. You'd quickly recover the dead.

Hurricane Harvey: Texas Project Nuclear Plant Expecting Greater Than 31" of Rain

Aug 28

Amazedly both plants are at 100% this morning and no notifications. The Colorado River won't peak for weeks.  

!!!Meltdown Warning!!!

Update Aug 27

Honestly, this below is occurring in a broad area surrounding a two nuclear plants site. The humanitarian crisis in Houston and their surroundings is unprecedented. How are they going to evacuate in this? Nobody ever seen this before in any nuclear plant in the USA. One wonders if all communication is lost to the plant?  

National Weather Service
NWS

✔ @NWS

This event is unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced. Follow orders from officials to ensure safety

USGS stream gage: Colorado river flow already above historic records

Just upstream of plant: Much of the west and southwest sides of Wharton, Texas, could be under water from the Colorado River. The river may overtop levees by several feet in Bay City. 

Much of the west and southwest sides of Wharton, Texas, could be under water from the Colorado River. The river may overtop levees by several feet in Bay City.

Lots of dams above STP on Colorado river...cascading dam failure. River meanders to the northwest of Houston. More westerly than north.    

Update Aug 26 3pm

WP: Where is Harvey going?
The short answer is that the storm isn’t going anywhere. Harvey is expected to stall for the better part of the upcoming week, penetrating inland perhaps 20 or 30 miles from its current position before finally jogging northeast around Thursday. This is essentially a worst-case scenario for already-waterlogged areas from Port Lavaca, Tex., up toward Houston, where between one and three feet of additional rain will fall in the days ahead.
Make no mistake: Even though Harvey’s wind threat has largely diminished, this is a disaster in the making. By Sunday afternoon, many areas may be inaccessible due to floodwaters, isolated to all but those traveling by boat. Now is the time to move to higher ground or evacuate if at all possible.

Just saying, the ruminants of the eye is suppose to  go over STP tomorrow and upstream on the Colorado River is supposed to get 41 inches. The Colorado River is directly aside the plant and fills the cooling lake. Should the plant now be in a alert? There is just no way of knowing what the next few will bring us.

Ponding water abutting the plants and critical  equipment...I'd be worried about a flooding.

***I mean, that is way out of the design of the plant. Will it turn into a nuclear Catastrophe?

They get their cooling lake making up water from the Colorado River. It looks like they have a elevated embankment around the cooling lake. The lake is a lot of area...its got to dump a lot of water in a big rain storm. What would the breach of the embankment look like?

To tell you the truth, I worry about the roofs. Will the roof drains be sufficient?  Are we worrying about a collapsed roof.

Wadsworth and Bay city upriver?

USS McCain and Fitzgarlad: We Are Under Severe and Sustained Attack By Forces Unknown!!!!

I tried to put this on the Naval Institute. There is a broad sentiment the sailors have lost trust in their senior command...

Just think, if this was true and it got out. In our environment today, just imagine the political fallout this would bring to Washington and our homes??? 

The McCain name are tremendously militarily and political symbolic for us. The John McCain of today was a presidential candidate and he is the Chairmen of the Senate Arms Service Committee today. We are all praying from him. He is at the pentacle of military control and power in the USA.  How can you not come to the conclusion this was a symbolic spear to the heart to the USA with the so called collision.  

You can’t even imagine what is ahead of you. Like a retroactive reinterpretation of old reports, evaluation and grades. It is like the proverbial snowball rolling down the hill. It is collecting a lot of energy and it won’t stop until the energy is spent. We had nuke plants with exemplary regulatory and corporate grades get reevaluated retroactively with the new eyes after a unexspected accident, into below F failing grades. The regulators (congress) fearing a widespread loss of public credibility, they are going to go nuts on you to protect their public credibility. These things have to be evaluated in the contextually of the times we live in.

You need to establish a separate link on the Navy’s internet site. Dump all the internal documents  (searchable) questioning any warfighting and operations issues like on the McCain, Fitzgerald, Fort Worth, Cowpens and others. 

The time frame and nature of the last two collision are too succinct. It implies a intelligent is at work. These were effectively a tee bone collision. Why no glancing blow collision. The Russian involvement in our elections might give us a clue. I doubt their intentions was to throw an election…it was scandal-mongrelizing as a asymmetric warfare. Their intention was to create a destabilizing political/constitutional crisis is the USA no matter who won. These damn Russians know us better than we know ourselves and are intelligent as hell. I believe the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, or whoever, or them all, are scandal mongrelizing trying to destabilize our government. I believe the Russians knows the vulnerabilities of the military better than the admirals or any politicians in Washington.  They are using the vulnerabilities of our democracy, weapons of mass “attention gaining” tricks to undermine our country. 

You people see a accident, I see a engineered outcome.

So at the heart of this, I think these two incidences were setup. It is to shame our government with all the military vulnerabilities discovered. It is a government destabilization operation. A less likely theory, it is cabal in the military. Its aim is to bring to light  to the public our inherent latent military vulnerabilities.  

You wonder if the sonic problems in Cuba are similar? It is to undermine our government. It is to make the US government weak and unstable in our eyes.

You need to game this out. Say a war with North Korea and others. What if a lot the military gear shows up broken or degraded? How do you assure to the politicians and public the military has got this handled? I am sure a lot of entities our there are dying to get into a war with our political weaknesses. Faith in government is our most precious treasure, by far our highest national security priority. We floundering on the rocks.  

How would you stress test our military like they stress test the banks? I would carefully analyze component failure down to a flat tire or hiccup within our games now going on in south Korea. I’d be seriously be looking for a confirmatory signals in the military on the magnitude of the decline in war fighting capabilities. I would be desperately looking for that signal???

The highest risk in this, we are undergoing a severe attack by forces unknown. It is a nation destabilization operation on going…

Grand Gulf and River Bend Is Still Capacity Factor Impaired

How can Entergy even make money on their southern Fleet? One is 65% power and the other one is 70%

NYT's Is Inaccurate: Wounded USS John McCain Had Two Collisions w/i 24 Hours

Update: I heard Acorn or Swift speak barge in their recent public comments. I have been researching the barge comment to double check my post. I am having troubles finding it. Maybe it is misspeak. Here is the Navy Times misspeak about barges.  

 

Navy's 7th Fleet no stranger to high ops tempo

NavyTimes.com-Aug 21, 2017

The destroyer John S. McCain is shown moored pier side at Changi Naval Base ... when it sustained a collision with an oil barge three times its size. ... of the rumors surrounding the collision involving the USS John S. McCain

The wounded USS McCain hit a oil barge on the way to the pier. So that is five vessel collisions. 

Commander of Naval Fleet Relieved of Duty After Collisions

By ERIC SCHMITT and RICHARD C. PADDOCKAUG. 22, 2017 

Commander of Naval Fleet Relieved of Duty After Collisions

WASHINGTON — Two days after ordering a rare suspension of ship operations worldwide, the Navy relieved the commander of the fleet that had sustained four accidents in Asia and the deaths of more than a dozen sailors this year.

Suspicious Navy Activity

Update 1031am

Shortly after I posted this in my blog, my comment popped back up on the comment section where it should be. The evidence is piling up I was involved in the firing the admiral.   


So Swift is Acorns boss. I am still trying to figure out who is who. 

I submitted this last night to the Navy Institute and they removed it. I was wondering if I would take out the Seventh Fleet boss (Acorn). And then it happened. 

The facts are; the Navy said there was steering failure, then they ruled it out, now it is still on the table. They tell us these quick phrases without any explanation. There are testing the waters to see if it sticks. 

Honestly, a sailor could open up a breaker or pull a wire, the crash occurs, then restore everything. There would be no evidence on what happened.   

Navy Institute: "All right, so Navy won’t release investigation information until all the reports are in based on not poising the well, until everyone gets their story straight. What would happen if a sailor leaked investigation information. It is the same thing. It is a Navy rule nobody releases investigation results prematurely until the full investigation is complete. It is a gross investigation impropriety.  When you are a fleet admiral, are you exempt from following Navy rules? Is he ordering investigators not to discover sabotage? If the investigation in not even begun, what does he base this comment on? Then right now, why doesn’t he fully explain why the steering failed? This is a fleet Admiral for Christ sake"

Can you even imagine how he and the Navy will look if the investigators eventually discovered sabotage?" 

Here is the comment I keyed on. 

Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said Tuesday.

“The unusual nature of the disasters even has prompted senior Navy leaders to rebut speculation that sabotage or a cyber attack may have caused the collisions. There is no indication that either occurred, Swift said again Tuesday.”

It wouldn't be the first time the Navy used accident investigations as a tool of a cover up?

I got tip a female berthing area was flooded. I can't validate if it true.

So they are removing Acorn who is scheduled to retire in a month. It is weak. It sounds like a Navy official who is taking a sword for the "Secretary of the Navy"? 

The Navy Institute has given me a lot of leeway with making comments. They should be commended. It was the first time they censored me. 

Remember the Navy has some heavy duty inducements to get a sailor or officer to lie for them. Give him a advancement, give him a immediate plum new duty station, change records, treat him special for the rest of his career. Outsiders would never be able to pick up this inducement.

This probably revolves around China saying the US Navy is a shipping hazard in the south China seas. Our competitors making hay with all the ship collision.      

Pence Being Called Back Home In Emergency: North Korean War Begins w/i Days

Updated: Remember that red line Obama drew in the sand in Syria over chemical weapons...Trump is turning into a chicken shit measly mouth worst than Obama with NKorea. This is fuel on the fire with empty threats. He is just a bucket of hot air. 

 OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — As North Korea vowed “merciless retaliation” against U.S.-South Korean military drills that it claims are an invasion rehearsal, senior U.S. military commanders on Tuesday dismissed calls to pause or downsize exercises they called crucial to countering a clear threat from Pyongyang.

originally posted on 8/17

Is this the opening stage of the war propaganda...is this comment 

Worldwide, is there any abnormal movement of the USA's military. Anything abnormal going or secret alerts. 

aimed at NKorea? Is the USA attempting to force a coup by the NKorean generals just before the war begins or upon the first few days of the war just based on how crazy he is???

What the hell, everyone is on station in preparation of the war. 

U.S.-South Korea war games start Monday as Pyongyang warns of ‘catastrophe’

By Stuart Leavenworth

sleavenworth@mcclatchydc.com

August 17, 2017 3:33 PM 

WASHINGTON 

Are tensions cooling in the Korean Peninsula? The United States and South Korea will find out Monday, when the two allies are scheduled to start joint military exercises that are known to anger North Korea, sometimes triggering a show of force. 

This year’s war games come at a particularly delicate moment. There have been exchanges of war rhetoric between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has further complicated the situation, by stating in an interview there’s “no military option” in North Korea while floating a possible deal with Pyongyang that would leave Seoul hanging. 

Amid all this back and forth, the U.S. and South Korean military will simulate warfare with North Korea from Aug. 21 to 31, well aware that North Korea could respond with another missile test.

“Over the course of the next two weeks I expect tensions to escalate,” said Scott A. Snyder, a Korea specialist with the Council on Foreign Relations who previously was the Asia Foundation's representative in Seoul. “This is always a sensitive issue, but it is more hair-trigger as the North Koreans are very sensitive to the like additional nuclear-capable aircraft flyovers.”

...Honestly, if we crushed Nkorea in a quick and ruthless war, will it send a message to terrorist throughout the world. 

Old General Pershing's supposed threat

U.S.Donald Trump 

In the wake of Thursday's deadly attack in Barcelona, Spain, President Donald Trump tweeted that General Pershing—referencing Army General John "Black Jack" Pershing—had the right idea when dealing with terrorists.

"Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!" Trump tweeted.  

While it was not 100 percent clear exactly what the president is referring to in the post, he has talked about Pershing ridding an area of terrorists in the past. And the claims he made about Pershing's tactics were widely debunked as false. 

"They were having terrorism problems, just like we do," Trump said. "And he caught 50 terrorists who did tremendous damage and killed many people. And he took the 50 terrorists, and he took 50 men and he dipped 50 bullets in pigs' blood—you heard that, right? He took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs' blood. And he had his men load his rifles, and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person, he said, 'You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened.' And for 25 years, there wasn't a problem. Okay? Twenty-five years, there wasn't a problem."

The Fire and Fury Threat

No doubt NKorea thinks Trump has been weakened. They are betting recent events will prevent him from carrying out his threat. I think the he can't back down from hitting something big in North Korea to save his reputation. A war is baked in the cake?   

Trump promises North Korea 'fire and fury' over nuke threat

By Jim Sciutto, Barbara Starr and Zachary Cohen, CNN

Updated 4:06 AM ET, Wed August 9, 2017 

Trump issues stern warning to North Korea 02:34

Story highlights

US intelligence analysts assess North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead, according to multiple sources

It is not believed that the capability has been tested

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump issued an extraordinary ultimatum to North Korea on Tuesday warning Pyongyang not to make any more threats against the United States or they will "face fire and fury like the world has never seen," during a photo op at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. 

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen... he has been very threatening beyond a normal state. They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before," he said.

Trump, Kim ramp up rhetoric

Trump's harsh words come as US intelligence analysts have assessed that North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead, according to multiple sources familiar with the analysis of North Korea's missile and nuclear program. 

Soon after Trump's comments, North Korea issued a statement saying it was "examining the operational plan" to strike areas around the US territory of Guam in the Pacific, including the Andersen Air Force base.

The Newest and Boldest North Korean Threat Yet To The USA. I think Kim wants a war. 

I thought President Trump said, if NKorea makes one more threat to the USA, we would obliterate them? 

North Korea shows the Capitol Building being obliterated by red missiles in new series of anti-West propaganda posters

Posters show North Korean missiles falling on Washington DC and the U.S.

Propaganda posters claim U.S. is 'within range' of Pyongyang's missiles

Illustrations proclaim that bombing the U.S. would be North Korea's 'answer'

This follows escalation in animosity between the two countries

NK has claimed it might send missiles into waters near US territory of Guam

By Sara Malm for MailOnline 

Published: 07:27 EDT, 17 August 2017 | Updated: 11:19 EDT, 

17 August 2017  

North Korea's latest propaganda posters shows the country bombing the United States as their 'answer' to the latest UN sanctions against the country. 

The illustrations sees Pyongyang warheads destroying the Capitol Building in Washington DC, and dozens of bombs falling over a burning map of the U.S. 

Proclaiming that the 'entire region of the state [U.S.] is now within range of our missiles!', the posters is the latest escalation in threats of nuclear war by North Korea.

Another line is the sand by the USA? We are boxing in NKorea.

Navy Times: Speaking at the State Department following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, Mattis also said that any North Korean launch toward territory controlled by the U.S., South Korea or Japan would result in “immediate, specific actions to take it down.”

Entergy: Continued Severe Capacity Factor Issues With Southern Fleet

Grand Gulf has been capacity factor impaired for four days. I see River Bend is at 7% after a three day shutdown>

Power Reactor Event Number: 52915 Facility: RIVER BEND Region: 4 State: LA Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: DAN JAMES HQ OPS Officer: BETHANY CECERE Notification Date: 08/18/2017 Notification Time: 23:41 [ET] Event Date: 08/18/2017 Event Time: 20:55 [CDT] Last Update Date: 08/18/2017 Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL Person (Organization): THOMAS FARNHOLTZ (R4DO) Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode 1 A/R Y 100 Power Operation 0 Hot Shutdown Event Text AUTOMATIC SCRAM WHILE AT 100 PERCENT POWER "At 2055 CDT on August 18, 2017, an automatic actuation of the reactor protection system occurred while the plant was operating at 100 percent power. No plant parameters requiring the actuation of the emergency diesel generators or the emergency core cooling system were exceeded. The main feedwater system remained in service following the scram to maintain reactor water level, and the main condenser remained available as the normal heat sink. "The scram occurred after a planned swap of the main feedwater master controller channels in preparation for scheduled surveillance testing. When the channel swap was actuated, the feedwater regulating valves moved to the fully open position. The scram signal originated in the high-flux detection function of the average power range monitors, apparently from the rapid increase in feedwater flow. "The cause of the apparent feedwater controller malfunction is under investigation. The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified." No safety relief valves opened. Decay heat is being removed via steam to the main condenser using the bypass valves and steam drains. The licensee intends to go to Cold Shutdown to investigate the malfunction.

My NYT's Comments On USS Fitz Report: Cover-up, Request Presidential Commission On military Readiness and Recent Events Are Just The Tip Of The Ice Berge

Commented just two days ago:

Top Two Officers on Navy Ship in Deadly Collision Off Japan Are Relieved of Duties

Mike Mulligan

Hinsdale, NH 2 days ago  

This is how the Navy does cover-ups. They are really good at it. You should check out the US Fort Worth report on the navy's FIOA page. The crew of the ship was crushed by the indifference of the brass off the ship on their combining gear failure. Some of this was crew sabotage trying to gain attention of the higher brass. This (Fitz) should have began with firing the squadron commander, the fleet admiral and CNO. These two ships are the tip of the iceberg. Where did "Fat Lenard" and the corrupt brass learn all their tricks from: Washington's corruption. I think this is a matter of funding starvation and inefficient spending of public funding. Steel yourself for the huge Congressional blue ribbon investigation after the next war based on our poor military readiness (sequestration). This all is a huge failure of the 4th estate with not educating the public on the condition of our military.

Big Al

Southwest 2 days ago

Thank you for providing your insight. Perhaps "the 4th Estate" doesn't know, or doesn't understand the seriousness, what you are writing about. Perhaps you and any informants you have should approach a legitimate newspaper with your beliefs because they are important.

Fitzgarald: My USNI Comments Concerning The State of the Navy

Fitzgerald: When A Big Ocean Gets Small

·        "Right, we are spinning up our military. We are squeezing North Korea. The last time we did this was Japan just prior to WWII. We could have many tens of thousands Soul South Koreans dead in a week. You need to consider the pressure the captain and Navy is in. We are really in a gigantic national emergency and our nation should be placed on a war footing. The world could drastically change right under our feet in a blink of eye. They are trying to knock us off the world stage. We have left peace time operations. We should hang a US flag on every house and car in the USA as support for our country and military. I recently did for the first time in my life. We are heading for a "National Commission on Military Readiness" during/post war!!!"

·        "Right, the USS Cowpens CG 63. This giant missile cruiser rust bucket is showing the flag in Australia. The senior Navy brass was utterly disconnected to their troubles just a few years ago. What brought me to this ship today, was the picture of the ship in Navy Times today. The amount of rust I saw on the hull led me to research conditions of the crew. The senior officers and enlisted were terrified to report what was going on to the shore bass just a few years go. The terrible material conditions of the ship. How can this level of dysfunction not be going on all over the fleet today? I know this is never going to get published? I just hope my message gets to the people who matter."

·        "One more. Why didn't the Fort Worth investigation include the question of the "extent of cause and condition". An ethical investigation of the Forth Worth based on the security of the USA would have posed this difficult question (siloing information). Did the "Fat Lenard" scandal impair the maintenance and upkeep of the pacific fleet in anyway. I would think that is a serous continued headwind today and the future?"

·        "Check out the pictures of the Fitzpatrick. The Fitz is a rust bucket before the accident. Why wasn't her paint job perfect. She represent the great USA all over the world.The Fort Worth combining gear report might give us a clue with what occurred. The crew demoralized, maintenance issues all around...an indifferent senior staff ashore. The crew was severely impaired. Priorities and resource limitations of any kind are always, always, always immoral.These burdens always on the weak and poor disproportionally. I think the Fitzgerald had severe maintenance issues and many on board components degraded or broken. Too heavy a ops tempo for resources we send them. Not enough Navy ships for the condition of the world. God help us all and our children we send to the fleet, if a prolonged and worldwide war breaks out with our exhausted and broke current fleet? The war clouds are building all around us. Mike Mulligan, Hinsdale, NH USS Lipscomb SSN 685."

"Crew demoralized;" "indifferent senior staff ashore"; "I think the Fitzgerald had severe maintenance issues and many on board components degraded or broken;" "Our exhausted and broke current fleet;" "Severe maintenance issues, many on board components degraded or broken."
Harsh statements indeed, Steamshovel. How do U know the crew was demoralized? How do U know senior staff was indifferent? How do U know their are severe maintenance issues? What makes U say the fleet is exhausted and broke?
Are U sane?

USS John McCain: Another Serious Collision with A Navy Ship.

Holy shit: Under the same command and port in Japan. They didn't emediately fix what was broke seen in the Fitzgerald. 

Honestly, with the recent two ship collisions out of the blue and the NKorean military exercises awaiting us for this week...this all sounds like a foreign attack on Navy ships. I think they are keeping something from us.     


Right, the Navy is waiting for some never ending investigation without changing the command...it proves they don't know the true conditions of the fleet. You need a big cleaning of the house operation... 

OMG: The Navy's ship slaughter houses.

NYTs:Ten Navy sailors were missing and five were injured on Monday after a United States destroyer collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore, the Navy said, the second accident involving a Navy ship and a cargo vessel in recent months.  

This is really bad. A destroyer is a lot smaller than a cruiser. I was stationed on the old McCain around 1975. It was a rust bucket.

It hit a gigantic oil tanker? They are searching for survivors in the seas? I can't imagine searching for survivors with the oil tanker...oil floats. The ship would never sink. I think we are searching Navy sailors again. 

We got a giant multi agency investigation going on with the Fitzgerald.

I am watching "The Last Ship" ship tonight at 9pm.  

US Navy destroyer and merchant ship collide near Singapore

Posted: Sunday, August 20, 2017 6:12 pm

US Navy destroyer and merchant ship collide near Singapore Associated Press

SINGAPORE (AP) — A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer has collided with a merchant ship in waters east of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca.

The Navy's 7th Fleet says that the USS John S. McCain sustained damage on its port side from the collision with the Alnic MC on Monday at 5:24 a.m.

Search and rescue efforts were underway in coordination with local authorities. There were no initial reports of injuries.

It is the second collision involving a Navy ship in the Pacific in two months. Seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship hit each other in waters off Japan.

The Japan-based 7th fleet said the McCain was heading to Singapore for a routine port visit.

It is looking much worst: 

The McCain’s sailors are fighting flooding in two crew berthings and in shaft alley, which is a space aft of the main engineering spaces where a shafts that rotate the ship’s propellers run through. 

The presence of flooding below the waterline indicates that the bow of the Alnic MC punched a hole in the side of McCain, as happened to Fitzgerald earlier this year. The ship’s propulsion has been limited but it is making way. 

The collision with the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel Alnic MC happened while the U.S. ship was underway east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca at 6:24 a.m. local time, according to Navy officials. Unlike the collision between the destroyer Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal off Japan in June, most of the crew would be up and moving around at that time. 

Its communications were still operational, and the amphibious assault ship America was making best speed to help the stricken McCain, according to a Navy official who spoke on background. 

The Navy’s top officer tweeted that the safety Navy’s first priority. 

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“Our first priority is determining the safety of the ship and crew,” Adm. John Richardson tweeted. ”As more information is learned, we will share it.” 

The destroyer was en route to a routine port visit in Singapore. 

The merchant vessel is a Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker, according to the Marine Traffic web site.

US Fitzgerald: Typical Ploy To Protect The Navy Brass

So they are setting this up to protect the big dogs. Why aren't they relieving the big dogs...the squadron commander, Fleet admiral and the CNO. They either turned a blind eye to ship dysfunction or were ignorant of the condition of the ship. I suspect many ships have similar style dysfunction.

I telling you, you need to clean house...

I'll bet you it revolves around inadequate funding or grossly inefficient use of funding. This "Fat Lenard" scandal emanates from the political and campaign corruption in Washington... 

It was the job of the brass to prevent this...they are never held accountable.  

Top Two Officers on Navy Ship in Deadly Collision Off Japan Are Relieved of Duties

By ERIC SCHMITTAUG. 17, 2017

WASHINGTON — The two top officers aboard a destroyer during a deadly collision off the coast of Japan in June were relieved of their duties on Friday, the Navy’s Seventh Fleet said. A number of other sailors were punished for their roles in the crash.

The announcement followed the release of a harrowing preliminary report on the collision between the destroyer Fitzgerald and a freighter that killed seven people aboard the American ship. It was one of the Navy’s deadliest accidents in years.

The ship’s captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson; his second-in-command; and the senior enlisted sailor were relieved of their duties by the head of the Seventh Fleet in Japan, Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin. A statement from the fleet said “inadequate leadership” had contributed to the collision…

Junk Plant Grand Gulf: Record Breaking Capacity Factor at 100% for Two Weeks

What a disgrace...

Now at 45%

Browns Ferry Uprate: A Big Duh

These plants can basically only maintain operation of their plants with the current resources. This is going to dilute their technical people resources leading to future poor performance. Everyone knows natural gas is going to continuously challenge grid low prices. They are going to replace or update only 2% of the equipment...the vast amount components won't be changed out.

I believe they can see the operation of this facility is under threat with low electric prices. This is a typical last stand ploy by the dummy utility. It is a waste of money. They are updating 1960s technology. This is un-American.

This ploy as perceived by TVA is a matter of survival...its not in the best interest of the ratepayers.

It is very common outcome the plant permanently shuts down within 5 years of the uprate. Or it could be similar to Grand Gulf where the plant never gets to the capacity factor the plant had prior to the uprate. This guy is getting a haircut with three plants at the same time...  

Browns Ferry nuke plant to increase power output

• By Evan Belanger Staff Writer
• Aug 17, 2017 Updated 6 hrs ago

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved a TVA request to increase the power-generating capacity of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Limestone County.
The uprate will allow the nuclear plant to increase its power-generating capacity by 14.3 percent by increasing the maximum operating temperature of each of the plant’s three reactors and upgrading related systems.
In a statement, the NRC said staff had reviewed the Tennessee Valley Authority’s evaluations showing the plant “can handle the increased power level” and that NRC had conducted an independent confirmation of the calculations.
“The NRC staff determined that TVA could safely increase the reactors’ output primarily by upgrading certain plants systems and components,” the NRC said in a statement.
The NRC assessment focused on nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, and accident evaluations.
TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the uprate would enable the plant to produce an additional 450 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 200,000 homes.
“It’s a significant output in power,” he said...

NRC Region IV Exceedingly Infrequent Event: All Plants At 100%

Who is going to first break it?

Junk Entergy's Southern Fleet: Short Created Leaking Roof Special Inspection At Waterford

Junk Plant Waterford and Severe Continued Capacity Factor Problem With Entergy's Southern Fleet.


NRC Begins Special Inspection at Waterford 3 Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection at the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant to review events that led to and occurred following an unplanned shutdown on July 17. The plant, operated by Entergy Operations, is located near Killona, La.

The plant was operating at full power during a rain and lightning storm when operators decided to shut it down as a precautionary measure. All safety systems responded as expected and the reactor was safely shut down. However, the NRC wants to better understand why some equipment failures occurred.

The two-member NRC team will spend about a week on site developing a chronology of the event, evaluating the licensee’s cause analysis and the adequacy of corrective actions. An inspection report documenting the team’s findings will be publicly available within 45 days of the end of the inspection.

Entergy's Southern Fleet Severe Capacity Problems: Profitability

Update Aug 4

Grand Gulf remains stuck at 88%. The other two made it up to 100%.

Five days of power history in region IV and more. This is highly erratic operation. with RB and Waterford. The steep power changes from day to day.  

Grand Gulf: 87/78/98/88/78
Waterford: 19/18/17/0/0
River Bend: 88/78/65/50/100

Palo Verde 1 80/80/80/80/80

And Watts Bar 2 has been stuck at 14% for two day...below getting the main turbine on the line. It doesn't look good for Watts Bar 2.