Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Thursday, October 08, 2020

Derecho at Duane Arnold Damaged to All Lines Going Into Plant...LOOP

On August 10, 2020, at 1246 CDT, while operating at 80% power, NextEra Energy Duane Arnold (DAEC) experienced a generator load reject and subsequent reactor scram as a result of a loss of offsite power (LOOP) due to extremely high winds. An Unusual Event was declared at 1258. All Safety Systems performed as designed. As a result of the LOOP, the 'A' and 'B' Emergency Diesel Generators automatically started and supplied power to the safety related busses. As a result, the High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI) and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) automatically initiated and injected into the reactor. In addition, containment isolations occurred, as expected for this event. This resulted in a 4-hour event report to the NRC under 10 CFR 50.72 section 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS Injection, 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS Actuation - Critical, 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - Valid Specific System Actuation (reference EN#54826). The NOUE by was exited at 1600 on August 11, 2020. The cause of the LOOP was an extremely severe storm (called a Derecho) with heavy rains and very high winds. This event had no impact on public health or safety. There were no systems, structures, or components inoperable at the time of the event that contributed to the event. This event is reportable pursuant to 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(iv)(A) and 50.73(a)(2)(iii). There were no radiological releases associated with this event.

On August 10, 2020, at 1246 CDT, while operating at 80% power, NextEra Energy Duane Arnold (DAEC) experienced a Generator Load reject and subsequent reactor scram as a result of a loss of offsite power (LOOP) due to extremely high winds. An Unusual Event was declared at 1258. All Safety Systems performed as designed.

As a result of the LOOP, the 'A' and 'B' Emergency Diesel Generators (EDGs) automatically started and supplied power to the safety related busses. In response to the expected Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) level transient, the High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI) and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) automatically started and injected. In addition, containment isolations occurred, as expected for this event.

This resulted in a 4-hour event report to the NRC under 10 CFR 50.72 section 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS Injection, 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS Actuation - Critical, 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - Valid Specific System Actuation (reference EN#54826).

The cause of the LOOP was an extremely severe storm (called a Derecho) with heavy rains and very high winds. This event had no impact on public health or safety. There were no systems, structures, or components inoperable at the time of the event that contributed to the event.

The Unusual Event was exited at 1600 on August 11, 2020.

II. Assessment of Safety Consequences:

In response to the LOOP, the plant experienced a Generator Lockout, Turbine Trip and Reactor Scram. The operating crew entered the appropriate emergency procedures. The EDG's quickly re-energized the safety-related electrical busses and restored power. The Reactor Protection System (RPS) power was never lost as the EDG's were able to recover power to the essential buses quickly. This prevented a Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) isolation signal and thus allowed the Main Condenser to remain available post event. As expected for this event, RPV level dropped below L2 setpoint (119.5") initiating the HPCI and RCIC systems. Reactor level recovered quickly. The Low Low Set System functioned as designed initially opening two primary system relief valves to control reactor pressure.

Operators were quickly able to establish pressure control initially via Steam Line Drains and RCIC and establish a cooldown rate.

Both recirculating pumps tripped when power was lost to their associated non-safety related electrical busses. The operators followed procedures for cooldown with no forced circulation in the core. When Shutdown Cooling was placed in service, forced circulation was re-established which resulted in exceeding the bottom head cooldown limits of 100 degrees per hour. This was anticipated and could not be avoided. 

This event did not result in a Safety System Functional Failure. Ill.

Cause of Event: The cause of the LOOP was an extremely severe storm (called a Derecho) with heavy rains and very high winds. Wind speeds exceeded 80 mph for over 20 minutes with peaks on site at greater than 100 mph. The National Weather Service later estimated wind speeds were likely near 130 mph. These winds resulted in all 6 off site power sources (4 - 161 kV and 2 - 345 kV) coming into the DAEC switchyard being damaged or downed. A separate offsite 69 kV line which feeds non-essential plant loads was also damaged. IV.

Corrective Actions: REV NO. - 00 The high winds experienced on August 10, 2020 were not considered a beyond design basis event. The systems and components responded as designed and the overall peak wind speeds were within the Design Basis Tornado. The damage observed coincides with the amount of damage expected for the event. Given this event was outside the control of the station staff and that all components worked as designed, no additional corrective actions beyond repair/recovery efforts related to the wind storm are needed. V.

Additional Information: Previous Similar Occurrences: A review of NextEra Energy Duane Arnold LERs from the previous 5 years identified the following event: LER 2018-004 - Automatic Reactor Scram due to Feedwater Regulating Valve Failure LER 2019-001 - Automatic Reactor Scram due to Loss of Feedwater.

Sunday, October 04, 2020

The Hinsdale NH Police Department, the NH State Police Investigators...Are A Object Failure To The Victims Of High Crimes In Hinsdale!

All the citizens, the families and children in my town and the surroundings, these terrorist thugs, we should all be concerned these thugs are stilling running around in our town. 

I consider this a professional hit job. To me, I think the unknown thugs allowed Shippee to observe the murders, told Shippee he needs to commit suicide within a few days or they will come back to torture your family and then kill you.

Shippe's body was discovered in Vernon VT. There is a notorious biker bar near the shuttered VY plant. Well, I think the bar is shutdown now, so the building is a gathering place for the biker club. You can hear the bikes coming and going from my house. Where they selling heroin there? A distribution headquarters! Is this where the professional guys came from?

Did the tugs give Shippee the heroin to kill himself...told him to go to Vernon and commit suicide. That way the death could be a advertising tag for the biker club. Raise their credibility. Of course, the tugs could have taken Shippee and his car to Vernon in a inebriated manner, then killed him by a heroin injection there.

Remember, Hinsdale is the heroin and hard drug distribution capital area for Keene and the surroundings?

Remember Vernon has really sparse police coverage today...they no longer have a police department. Vernon today is a very poor town! Vernon would be a perfect place for a bike club headquarters or satellite office?         

Authorities continue to say little about Hinsdale double homicide

by PAUL CUNO-BOOTH Sentinel Staff 

Personnel changes at N.H. State Police have prolonged the investigation into an April 2019 double homicide in Hinsdale, which the authorities continue to say little about, according to a recent motion from the N.H. Attorney General’s Office.

Neal Bolster, 29, and Aaliyah Jacobs, 19, both of Hinsdale, were found shot dead that month in Bolster’s Plain Road home. The following day, the N.H. Attorney General’s Office announced it was charging Derrick Shippee, 28, of Westmoreland, with the murders.

Shippee was found dead in Vernon, Vt., that day of what the medical examiner’s office would later rule an accidental drug overdose.

Authorities in New Hampshire have never publicly described the circumstances of the killings, the motive or investigators’ reasons for suspecting Shippee. They say the investigation is ongoing.

“The length of the investigation has been in large part due to personnel changes within State Police,” Assistant Attorney General Jesse O’Neill wrote in an Aug. 12 motion.

Initially, the investigation was in the hands of a State Police detective and Hinsdale's police chief at the time, Todd Faulkner. But around the end of 2019 and start of 2020, the detective retired, and Faulkner left for a job with the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office, according to the motion.

“At that point, the case was reassigned to another State Police detective, but shortly thereafter was brought under the purview of the State Police Major Crime Unit and assigned to two investigators within that unit,” O’Neill wrote in the August motion. “These investigators have now familiarized themselves with the history of the investigation and are taking steps to advance the investigation towards a conclusion.”

The Attorney General’s Office has consistently opposed the release of an affidavit from April 2019 that outlines the state’s case for charging Shippee with murder.

The Sentinel has been to court three times since June 2019 seeking access to that document, which is sealed. The Attorney General’s Office has argued that disclosure would harm the ongoing investigation because it could influence what potential witnesses tell police.

“To unseal the affidavit in support of Mr. Shippee’s arrest at this point presents a significant risk of tainting the ongoing investigation and preventing it from reaching a legitimate conclusion,” O’Neill wrote in the Aug. 12 motion.

In an order issued Sept. 4 and received by The Sentinel on Monday, Judge David S. Forrest of the 8th Circuit Court in Keene ruled for a third time that the affidavit can remain sealed. 

After hearing closed-door testimony from N.H. State Police Detective Matthew Anderson, Forrest wrote that the state had presented adequate justification to keep the records secret for now.

"In short, the Court finds that there is still an ongoing active pre-indictment criminal investigation, which could be jeopardized by unsealing the warrants and affidavits," Forrest wrote. 

However, he ordered the Attorney General's Office to update him on the status of the investigation by Dec. 4 and wrote that he would immediately schedule another hearing if the office continues to oppose disclosure.

Court documents like affidavits are presumed public. But judges can keep them sealed if convinced that the government's need to keep information under wraps overrides the public’s interest in seeing them.

Under N.H. Supreme Court precedent, the authorities have more leeway to block disclosure when an investigation is in a "pre-indictment" phase.

In a Sept. 2 hearing, Forrest noted that The Sentinel has questioned how the investigation could still qualify as "pre-indictment," given that the suspect has long since died. Forrest asked whether that was because police were investigating whether others were involved.

O'Neill did not answer directly, saying he would address that in the closed-door hearing without The Sentinel present.

The Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the ruling or respond to specific questions about the scope of its investigation, whether it is expected to conclude by Dec. 4 and how the office defines "pre-indictment."

"Based on the New Hampshire Rules of Professional Conduct, in particular, Rules 3.6 and 3.8, we are unable to comment on this matter as the investigation remains ongoing," Kate Giaquinto, a spokeswoman for the office, said via email Monday, referring to rules covering pre-trial publicity and a prosecutor's responsibility.