The FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant Spirit

Remember Fitz was heading into a strike before the shutdown announcement.

When A Strike is a Possibility at a Plant 

Nov 4, 2015 

"Unionized workers at the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego, N.Y. recently voted to accept a new contract days before the current pact was to expire. The union representing operations, maintenance and radiation protection staff and Entergy, the company that owns the plant, reached a new four-year agreement."

Entergy's Four Platforms 

Eric Wilczynski:

"The Companies Four Platforms uses buzz words like Trust, Honesty, FAIRNESS, and Integrity. Let me reiterate Trust, Honesty, FAIRNESS, and Integrity. Prove to me that these or more than just words on a motivational poster, prove to me these are words in which you live and lead by." 

The thing is,CEO Denault is more held hostage to the system as the mechanical knuckle draggers.  

I'll bet you have the reason why the plant is closing is Entergy feels they are losing control of their bottom half employees.

Go Union! Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim are heading into the sun without a whimper.

FitzPatrick nuclear worker tells well-paid Entergy CEO: Show us 'fairness'

Entergy Corp. CEO Leo Denault met with workers Friday at the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Scriba. During a question-and-answer session, one worker implored Denault to show "good corporate citizenship'' in his treatment of plant employees whose lives will be disrupted when the plant closes. (Stephen D. Cannerelli )

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By Tim Knauss | tknauss@syracuse.com The Post-Standard
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 21, 2015 at 10:50 AM, updated December 21, 2015 at 11:48 AM

FitzPatrick nuclear plant

• FitzPatrick nuclear worker tells well-paid Entergy CEO: Show us 'fairness'
• NY needs to level the playing field for carbon-free energy (Commentary)
• Upstate New York's nuclear plants support 25,000 jobs, industry consultant says
• Entergy owned Indian Point power plant forced to shut down after power loss
• Why Entergy won't bet on Cuomo plan to keep FitzPatrick nuke open

All Stories 

SCRIBA, N.Y. – When the CEO of Entergy Corp. visited FitzPatrick nuclear plant Friday to talk with 600 employees about closing the facility, one of the workers drew attention to the executive's hefty compensation while asking him to be fair to the rank-and-file. 

Eric Wilczynski, a veteran employee, got a raucous standing ovation after he delivered a speech imploring Leo Denault to "show good corporate citizenship'' in his treatment of workers who will lose jobs at the plant, according to people who attended the all-hands staff meeting. 

During a question-and-answer session, Wilczynski, a chief mechanical maintenance technician who has worked at FitzPatrick for 25 years, rose from his seat and walked to the front of the room to stand next to Denault. 

Wilczynski noted that Denault, who earned $11.8 million in salary and other compensation last year, has a golden parachute that provides him a handsome retirement should his employment end. But FitzPatrick union workers who will be forced out when the plant closes will suffer a hit to their pensions if they transfer to any but one of the other Entergy nuclear plants, because of a technicality in the union contract. 

Wilczynski asked Denault to amend Entergy's policy for FitzPatrick workers. 

"Prove to the families that our compensation, pensions, and futures are as secure as yours,'' he said. 

Denault shook his hand after the speech and thanked him for raising the issue, Wilczynski said. His fellow plant workers stood and applauded. Throughout the day, they showered him with congratulatory texts and emails. 

In addition to the pension issue, Wilczynski asked Denault the question that has plagued FitzPatrick employees since September, when the company first hinted that the plant might close. What, Wilczynski demanded, would it have taken to keep FitzPatrick open? 

Denault declined to answer that question, employees said. Entergy officials have consistently said their talks with New York state officials about the possibility of keeping FitzPatrick open were confidential. Denault did say Friday that the state's proposed "clean energy standard'' did not include a promise of financial subsidies specifically for FitzPatrick. 

Here is the text of Wilczynski's speech. His employee ID number has been deleted for security reasons. 

Leo, 

I am employee ID . . . . I know my name and face is irrelevant in the big scheme of things within the corporate paradigm. As much as I dislike or not agree with the decision made to close down FitzPatrick, this is not why I stand before you here today. I will not question how or why that decision was reached, nor the manner in which you chose to battle our state. You have told New York State politicians to "stop trying" because obviously Entergy has. 

I am here to hopefully provide you with awareness and possible solutions. I know that if I am going to present a problem I need to also include some options for resolution.
In 2014 you were reported to make 11.8 million dollars in salary, option awards, stocks, and incentive plan compensations. All of which are "significantly more" than the average public executive. Out of 16,000 public executives, you are ranked in the top 1 percentile in total annual compensation. To put this in perspective, you make $1,349.00 an hour. At my base rate I would have to work 121 years to make what you earn in one year. 

Don't get me wrong; what you're paid is no concern of mine. It is rather impressive in the way you negotiated your "golden parachute," setting up for retirement and securities for you, your family, and their families to follow. It is obvious you know and value the importance of a retirement and pension plan.

I am one of many members of the Entergy team who has worked to successfully execute your mission and vision to earn you your millions. I am asking you to put the same rigor into our retirement and pension plans by allowing them to carry with us to whatever Entergy site we are relocated to. 

When the announcement was made that FitzPatrick would not refuel, we were informed that Entergy would do everything in their power to place employees within the fleet, should we elect to stay within the company. However, here is the

Yea, everyone will have a job with Entergy if they want one according to our policy is the public relation theme. The rulesy game. Then you look up the rules and almost nobody gets a job. Who the hell wants these guys with a attitude like Wilczynski?

"PROBLEM": Based on current company policy, the only Entergy site which will allow pension credits for bargaining unit employees to be carried over is Indian Point. As we all know, the future of Indian Point is questionable, at best. This is a significant limiting factor in the placement for union workers, which represent a large part of the company's workforce. 

As I stated earlier, we here at Fitzpatrick do not bring problems to the table without offering viable solutions: 

Solution 1: Allowing retirement and pension plans to carry with us to whatever Entergy site we are relocated to. 

Solution 2: Entergy owns TLG Services Inc. (a decommissioning company). Assuming they are going to be the

***I do know some rather young people are hanging around moving fuel at Vermont Yankee until retirement.  

company to do our decommissioning, give our employees and their earned pensions the opportunity to stay here with their families and transfer over to TLG. 

The Companies Four Platforms uses buzz words like Trust, Honesty, FAIRNESS, and Integrity. Let me reiterate Trust, Honesty, FAIRNESS, and Integrity. Prove to me that these or more than just words on a motivational poster, prove to me these are words in which you live and lead by. 

You are in a leadership position as chairman of the board and CEO of Entergy. The words "Leadership" and "Leader" are not always synonymous with one another; show us that's not the case here. 

You have many resources at your disposal, and are in a position to influence and approve our pensions, and allow our credited service years to carry over to the other Entergy sites. 

I am employee ID . . . My name is Eric Wilczynski, a member of the Fitzpatrick family since 1992. You now have a name to put with the face. Prove to us we are more than an employee with an ID number. Prove to the families that our compensation, pensions, and futures are as secure as yours. Mr. Denault, we have proven to you our commitment in over 11.8 million ways. 

In closure I have two questions for you, Mr. Denault: 

Question 1: I'm asking you, given the current situation, will you embrace good corporate citizenship by putting the same rigor into our retirement and pension plans, allowing them to carry with us to whatever Entergy site we are relocated to. 

Question 2: It's my understanding that more money was put on the table through the Clean Energy (Standard) that would've DIRECTLY helped the Fitzpatrick plant, and Entergy turned it down. Why? And, what EXACTLY was needed by Entergy to keep this plant open? 

NY Governor Cuomo Sends Message to Nuclear Industry

Right, then the recent across the board 30% cuts in budgets throughout the nation's nuclear plants initiated by the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Believe me, Pilgrim is teetering on the precipice. A few more events at Pilgrim will drive Massachusetts's Governor into being a Republican Governor Cuomo.

You all ought to be wringing your hands over what the NRC finds in the next set of special inspections in 2016...   

Governor Orders Probe of Safety Protocols at Indian Point

Rick Pezzullo | Dec 22, 2015 | 

Governor Andrew Cuomo last week directed the state Public Service Commission to launch a full investigation into the operations and safety protocols at the Indian Point nuclear facility in Buchanan following the unexpected shutdown of Indian Point Unit 3 on December 14. 

In his December 16 letter to PSC Chairwoman Audrey Zibelman, Cuomo pointed out there has been 13 unplanned shutdowns at Indian Point since June 2012 and an additional four planned but unanticipated shutdowns. 

“This simply is unacceptable. New Yorkers deserve better from Indian Point’s owners,” stated Cuomo, who has been a long proponent of Entergy not receiving the go-ahead from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate the plants for another 20 years after its current 30-year license expires this year. 

“These unplanned outages are intolerable and stand to support our contention that this facility and its aging infrastructure is at the end of its useful life,” Cuomo stated. “New York State will not sit idly by while the NRC and Entergy drag out the federal relicensing proceedings. While these facilities continue to operate beyond their license date, we have an obligation to ensure that they are properly maintained and that timely investments in critical infrastructure are neither delayed nor deferred.” 

In his request to Zibelman, Cuomo called on the PSC to specifically examine the capital and maintenance budgets at the plants and their potential impact on the recent outages and how the outages can affect the long-term continued safe operations of Indian Point. 

Cuomo asked Zibelman to present the PSC’s findings by February 15. 

In the meantime, Entergy has received permission to continue operating Indian Point while the NRC reviews its relicensing application, a process that is expected to linger into 2017.

Russia: What A Nuclear Accident Looks Likes With No Faith In Government

Japan will be susceptible to this kind of panic for decades...

It’s basically a four eight unit site. Two Four are early 1970s vintage plants and the other two four are under construction. The first reactor at this site built is scheduled for permanent shutdown in 2016. 

This is the worldwide flaw of nuclear power: Everyone is permanently anchored to first built or first generation plants and nobody can afford to shut them down.

I don't think there has been a meltdown here yet...but this is Russia. If Finland starts complaining about radiation problems them we are in trouble.  

• RUSSIANS took iodine and caused traffic jams as they rushed to leave the proximity of a Chernobyl-style power station on the Gulf of Finland amid fears officials were covering up a radioactive leak. 

• The panic followed the emergence of pictures showing a cloud of vapour pouring from Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, some 50 miles from St Petersburg. 

• Radio Svoboda reported that in the wake of the incident on Friday locals in Sosnovy Bor started withdrawing money from their credit cards. 

• One local said: "Everyone got very worried and rushed to get iodine."

• Bodrov called for medical checks for staff at the power plant.

• One woman - an employee of the station - was taken to the hospital with high blood pressure attack.  

• The incident led to a shut down of the second power unit at the station.

Russians flee Chernobyl-style plant over fears of radioactive leak 

RUSSIANS took iodine and caused traffic jams as they rushed to leave the proximity of a Chernobyl-style power station on the Gulf of Finland amid fears officials were covering up a radioactive leak.

By Will Stewart

PUBLISHED: 17:01, Mon, Dec 21, 2015 | UPDATED: 17:42, Mon, Dec 21, 2015

The panic followed the emergence of pictures showing a cloud of vapour pouring from Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, some 50 miles from St Petersburg.

The authorities insisted that the was no radioactive leakage after a "defect" which caused a steam emission from the turbine section of the station - the most westerly in Russia - but people did not believe the "no danger" claim.

Radio Svoboda reported that in the wake of the incident on Friday locals in Sosnovy Bor started withdrawing money from their credit cards.

They said locals were in panic mode despite statements from officials that the radiation level was normal.

People had more trust in the ecologists who prepared their own statement.

They confirmed the radiation level in Sosnovy Bor was normal but said wind carried the stream away from the city towards the Gulf of Finland.

They said that didn't mean the stream was not radioactive.

One local said: "Everyone got very worried and rushed to get iodine."

This is seen as a protection against radiation poisoning.

There were traffic jams as residents left the area and headed for St Petersburg.

Oleg Bodrov, chairman of "Green Wolrd" ecological group said people were right not to trust denials from the authorities, with many people recalling that Soviet officials turned a blind eye to the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986.

He said: "They know well that the officials' first task is to say all is normal but not to report about danger, even if there is one.

"All those who understand a bit about nuclear energy know that it was an attempt to mistake the wish for the reality.

"In this reactor the water turns into vapour which goes to the turbine.

"And this vapour is surely radioactive.

"This time we were lucky, the reactor was immediately stopped, but some vapour still appeared and because the turbine was stopped it had to go somewhere.

"It was expelled via the tubes.

"Fortunately, the wind had an unusual direction for this region - it was south-south-east and the vapour has gone to the Finnish Gulf, towards Vyborg town."

This was also in the direction of Finland.

Bodrov called for medical checks for staff at the power plant.

Interfax reported that a special commission was working at the nuclear station aiming to find out the reasons for the emission One woman - an employee of the station - was taken to the hospital with high blood pressure attack.

The incident led to a shut down of the second power unit at the station.

After the reactor shutdown "the steam leak significantly dropped", reported nuclear.ru website.

An area of 40 square metres was "completely isolated".

Plant manager Vladimir Pereguda said: "The situation at the plant is calm. There are no reasons for evacuation of the plant personnel and residents of Sosnovy Bor."

He said the reactor had been halted "in a subcritical state".

The reactor was being cooled "in order to correct a defect".

Readings at the plant in the days after the incident show safe levels of radiation.

The plant was completed in 1973, and had an expected 30 year life cycle.

It suffered shutdowns or safety alerts in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011

.

Japanese Nuclear Plant Security Black Hole

USA Wiki leaks to the rescue. No doubt since Fukushima Japan is highly vulnerable to a terrorist attack. If a terror attack would happen, there would be a terrible and disproportion response because the nation is so sensitive over nuclear issues.

It is amazing, the NRA isn't required to make mandatory reporting on nuclear plant security vulnerabilities.

I'll tell you what, the whole nuclear industry worldwide is threaten by this Japanese vulnerability...   

Nuclear power plants feared vulnerable to terrorist groups

by Reiji Yoshida

Staff Writer

Dec 20,2015 

***“I can understand there are concerns after terrorist attacks like the ones in Paris,” said NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka at a news conference on Nov. 18. “For now, we will tighten security measures by asking (for the) cooperation of related organizations like the police,” he said.

But the NRA’s recent decision to revise its requirements to cope with terrorism has fueled fears over potential attacks on Japanese plants. 

***The Japan Times asked the NRA and Tokyo Electric Power Co. to comment on Ban’s comments, but both declined.

***“The Islamic State has warned the pagan nation of Japan against further endangering lives of Japan’s citizens through Japanese support of the American crusade,” the jihadi extremist group said in the latest issue of its English-language online magazine Dabiq. 

Even before the Fukushima crisis, the U.S. expressed serious concern over the apparent lack of security at Japanese nuclear plants. 

In May 2011, the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks released a number of documents it claimed were cables sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to Washington in 2006 and 2007.

In one cable dated Feb. 26, 2007, the U.S. expressed concerns by reporting “armed national police are present at certain nuclear power plants . . . in Japan, but they do not guard all facilities and contract civilian guards are prevented by law from carrying weapons.” 

Another cable, dated Nov. 2, 2006, referred to an anti-terrorism drill held at a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. It reported that some Japanese officials “pointed out flaws in the drill, saying it was unrealistic because participants had advance copies of the scenario.” 

Kevin Maher, who served as the minister-counselor for science and technologies and environmental affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, was among the U.S. officials surprised to learn of the apparent lack of armed security guards at Japanese nuclear plants. 

In a 2003 meeting in Tokyo, Maher said he and a visiting White House official at the time urged senior officials at Japan’s now-defunct Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to deploy armed guards to tighten security. 

“We were explaining that you need to be prepared for an armed terrorist attack,” Maher said in a recent interview with The Japan Times. “Literally their answer was, ‘No, because guns are illegal in Japan,’ ” he added. 

Maher, however, stressed he now believes Japanese security measures at nuclear plants have been greatly strengthened under the NRA’s new safety standards and the more realistic crisis-management approach taken by the Abe administration.

Maher asserted that nuclear plants are now more tightly protected and there are many other “softer” targets in Japan that would be easier for terrorists… 

Did NEI's Fertel Get Canned Over Budget Cutting Ideal

They need the next generation to take over. A good looking interesting young women needs to become the next NEI CEO.

US nuclear power trade group head to retire in 2016 

By Steven Dolley and William Freebairn | December 18, 2015 06:00 AM 

A new leader will head the US nuclear power industry’s powerful trade group when Marvin Fertel, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute since 2008, retires at the end of 2016. 

The nuclear industry, facing escalating economic challenges and rising operating costs, could tap an executive with Exelon, the largest merchant nuclear plant operator, to succeed him, Fertel said. He first revealed his retirement plans in an exclusive interview with Platts December 16.

Fertel, 69, said NEI’s board of directors has been notified of his decision and a search firm will provide a list of candidates for his replacement to the group’s executive committee. 

Maria Korsnick, NEI’s chief operating officer since mid-2014, “will be certainly one of the prime candidates in that search,” Fertel said. 

“I’m getting tremendous benefit from having her here working with me,” he said. 

“It’s a great asset to this organization having Maria work with us now, and it will be a tremendous asset if she gets the job, in that she’ll have so much experience with what NEI does, as well as all the great background that she has,” Fertel said. “We look at it as a really good thing.”

Fertel noted, however, that he will not make the decision on his successor. 

Natural gas brings clear benefits to New England Massachusetts’s 1970s moment (ANGA)

Massachusetts’s 1970s moment

On April 18, 1977 America was in the midst of an energy crisis and President Jimmy Carter delivered a televised speech encouraging energy conservation. It was a smart idea, and he famously wore a cardigan sweater on-air to drive home the point that even the White House was turning down the heat.

How times have changed. Thirty-eight years later, America largely controls its own energy future. In fact, American produced energy has changed the global energy picture in a fundamental way –  thanks to innovations that tapped our abundant natural gas supplies – lowering  costs for consumers, reinvigorating American manufacturing and reshaping how our leaders think about generating the energy we’ll need for continued economic growth.

The magnitude of economic growth, specifically in the New England region, relies largely on how this clean-burning natural gas will be transported from the Pennsylvania shale fields to the region’s consumers and businesses. The governors of the six New England states understand this, and are rowing in the same direction, strongly supporting efforts to get new, much needed pipeline infrastructure built in the region.

Which is why it’s curious that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey took a trip in the way-back machine to grab a page from the 1970s energy playbook last month. That’s when Healey released the results of a study she commissioned finding that Massachusetts didn’t need additional natural gas infrastructure but instead could make due by increasing energy efficiency and encouraging electricity customers to scale back their use. The Attorney General appears to argue that Massachusetts doesn’t need more natural gas infrastructure and instead should don the proverbial cardigan, turn down the heat and conserve more.

The Attorney General’s report, and her position against the need for more natural gas infrastructure, is troubling for several reasons.  First, the study only looked at the electric power market, ignoring the needs of local natural gas utilities struggling to meet increased demand for natural gas from residents and businesses seeking to switch from oil to natural gas.

Second, the Attorney General’s report appears to ignore the environmental benefits that natural gas is bringing to the region, and will continue to do so. That’s because Massachusetts and regional utilities are meeting clean air targets by replacing coal and oil fired power plants with cleaner burning natural gas plants. But the lack of pipelines to get the natural gas where it’s needed will force Massachusetts to delay the opportunity for cleaner burning energy to keep up with freezing temperatures.

While everyone supports energy conservation – after all, it’s  good for both our planet and our wallets – we also must allow for continued economic growth.  The good news is that with natural gas we don’t have to choose between the two. Greater use of natural gas is reducing emissions and driving more efficient manufacturing while lowering energy costs for businesses and homes alike.

The reality is that businesses that can relocate or expand outside of New England are warning that the region’s high energy costs jeopardize their continued operations. High energy costs also can result in manufacturers shutting down or curtailing operations, and consumers, who have seen household incomes stay flat for a decade, are being hit by energy prices that are increasingly difficult to afford.

The benefits of natural gas for New England are clear:  more energy, fewer emissions, more jobs and lower energy costs. Fortunately, New England governors are working together to promote greater prosperity in the region by advancing infrastructure investment to get more natural gas to consumers. A more constructive option for the Massachusetts Attorney General, therefore, would be to join with other New England leaders to advance the region’s shared economic, energy and environmental goals with new natural gas infrastructure and other transmission projects

Prior to joining NEI, Korsnick was senior vice president of Exelon’s Northeast operations and acting chief executive officer and chief nuclear officer of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group. She is also executive director of the US nuclear power industry’s Fukushima Steering Committee, which is responsible for coordinating with the NRC the industry’s activities in response to lessons learned from the Fukushima I accident in Japan in 2011. Korsnick joined NEI in 2014. 

Before Fertel joined NEI’s predecessor organization, the US Council for Energy Awareness, in 1990, he held positions at Ebasco, Management Analysis Company and Tenera. 

He became vice president of nuclear economics and fuel supply at NEI when the organization was formed in 1994, and he was named senior vice president and chief nuclear officer in 2003. Fertel became acting president and CEO in 2008 before being elected permanently to the position by NEI’s board in 2009. 

During Fertel’s tenure, among other efforts, NEI has supported the licensing and construction of five new nuclear power units in the US. After the Barack Obama administration canceled in 2010 DOE’s project to build a geological repository for spent fuel and nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, NEI successfully sued the department in federal court to halt the collection of a fee imposed on nuclear-generated electricity to build the Nuclear Waste Fund that would have been used to pay for that project. 

NEI has also advocated for low-carbon portfolio standards and other policies to assist merchant nuclear power plants facing economic challenges from low natural gas and power prices, and coordinated enhancements of nuclear power plants’ ability to mitigate severe accidents similar to that at Fukushima under its Flex initiative. 

Fertel took the helm of NEI at the height of talk about a “nuclear renaissance” in the US, spurred by expectations of strong growth in demand as well as government support for new plants. Fertel saw those hopes sharply diminished as an economic contraction followed by a historic drop in the price of natural gas sent power prices plunging and reduced the need for new generation. In the past three years, Fertel and NEI have faced announcements that seven nuclear units in the US would shut. Just this year, Entergy has said it will close its Pilgrim and FitzPatrick units in Massachusetts and New York, respectively, because of financial challenges faced by merchant nuclear plants. Those units rely on wholesale market rates for electricity, which have tumbled, to make profits. 

The support for Korsnick, an executive at the largest US merchant nuclear unit operator, reflects the importance that the problems of the merchant fleet represents for the industry. 

She has recently been at the forefront of industry efforts to spread awareness of the issues facing the industry, and earlier this month she outlined an industry-wide initiative to improve the economics of nuclear plants by reducing costs and increasing revenue. 

Fertel’s departure from NEI had been rumored for years.

The Natural Gas Gang is Too timid.

Natural gas brings clear benefits to New England Massachusetts’s 1970s moment (ANGA)

Massachusetts’s 1970s moment

On April 18, 1977 America was in the midst of an energy crisis and President Jimmy Carter delivered a televised speech encouraging energy conservation. It was a smart idea, and he famously wore a cardigan sweater on-air to drive home the point that even the White House was turning down the heat.

How times have changed. Thirty-eight years later, America largely controls its own energy future. In fact, American produced energy has changed the global energy picture in a fundamental way –  thanks to innovations that tapped our abundant natural gas supplies – lowering  costs for consumers, reinvigorating American manufacturing and reshaping how our leaders think about generating the energy we’ll need for continued economic growth.

The magnitude of economic growth, specifically in the New England region, relies largely on how this clean-burning natural gas will be transported from the Pennsylvania shale fields to the region’s consumers and businesses. The governors of the six New England states understand this, and are rowing in the same direction, strongly supporting efforts to get new, much needed pipeline infrastructure built in the region.

Which is why it’s curious that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey took a trip in the way-back machine to grab a page from the 1970s energy playbook last month. That’s when Healey released the results of a study she commissioned finding that Massachusetts didn’t need additional natural gas infrastructure but instead could make due by increasing energy efficiency and encouraging electricity customers to scale back their use. The Attorney General appears to argue that Massachusetts doesn’t need more natural gas infrastructure and instead should don the proverbial cardigan, turn down the heat and conserve more.

The Attorney General’s report, and her position against the need for more natural gas infrastructure, is troubling for several reasons.  First, the study only looked at the electric power market, ignoring the needs of local natural gas utilities struggling to meet increased demand for natural gas from residents and businesses seeking to switch from oil to natural gas.

Second, the Attorney General’s report appears to ignore the environmental benefits that natural gas is bringing to the region, and will continue to do so. That’s because Massachusetts and regional utilities are meeting clean air targets by replacing coal and oil fired power plants with cleaner burning natural gas plants. But the lack of pipelines to get the natural gas where it’s needed will force Massachusetts to delay the opportunity for cleaner burning energy to keep up with freezing temperatures.

While everyone supports energy conservation – after all, it’s  good for both our planet and our wallets – we also must allow for continued economic growth.  The good news is that with natural gas we don’t have to choose between the two. Greater use of natural gas is reducing emissions and driving more efficient manufacturing while lowering energy costs for businesses and homes alike.

The reality is that businesses that can relocate or expand outside of New England are warning that the region’s high energy costs jeopardize their continued operations. High energy costs also can result in manufacturers shutting down or curtailing operations, and consumers, who have seen household incomes stay flat for a decade, are being hit by energy prices that are increasingly difficult to afford.

The benefits of natural gas for New England are clear:  more energy, fewer emissions, more jobs and lower energy costs. Fortunately, New England governors are working together to promote greater prosperity in the region by advancing infrastructure investment to get more natural gas to consumers. A more constructive option for the Massachusetts Attorney General, therefore, would be to join with other New England leaders to advance the region’s shared economic, energy and environmental goals with new natural gas infrastructure and other transmission projects

Toshiba is a Stinking Dead Whale?

update 12/21

I told you it was coming:

Toshiba, Facing $4.5 Billion Loss, Plans Deep Cuts

Toshiba has been racked this year by one of Japan’s biggest accounting scandals, which has morphed into a broader crisis affecting nearly all its major units. Its shares plunged 10% Monday and have lost more than half their value since March.
 Scandal-racked company hopes to sell a majority stake in its health-care division and expects to cut 7,800 jobs 

Toshiba has been racked this year by one of Japan’s biggest accounting scandals, which has morphed into a broader crisis affecting nearly all its major units. Its shares plunged 10% Monday and have lost more than half their value since March. 

The company earlier said it was seeking investors for its Westinghouse nuclear subsidiary and its semiconductor business, and it is talking with Fujitsu Ltd. FJTSY -3.88 % about a possible merger of personal-computer units. 

Deepening problems in the company’s consumer electronics business are one reason for the losses, but tough market conditions for the company’s mainstay nuclear and semiconductor operations are also playing a role. Toshiba said sales would fall by 7% this year and projected an operating loss at its semiconductor unit, which has been hit by a slowdown in China and weaker growth in global smartphone sales. 

In the nuclear business, Toshiba’s Westinghouse subsidiary has struggled to win new orders for reactors since the Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster in Japan in 2011.

So Toshiba (Westinghouse/new Vogtle) is undergoing profound restructuring after their phoney financial disclosures. I just don't trust the Japanese(nuclear)after Fukushima and San Onofre steam generators. 

Basically Toshiba says their nuclear division is very profitable and at times carried all of the giant corporation. I just think the nuclear industry have become too dependant on the behemoths, they gouge the hell and overcharge the utilities. They grossly overcharge the utilities and they provide poor quality services without fear of reprisal. 

So why has the US nuclear industry placed themselves in this weakened and powerless position...

I get it, the cheapest price always wins out. Why is the nuclear industry so desperate? 

Just think about it, when is Toshiba going spin off their highly profitable nuclear sector?       

Toshiba likely to suffer huge net loss in fiscal 2015Kyodo

• Dec 19, 2015

Toshiba Corp. expects a record group net loss of around ¥500 billion for the business year ending in March, as it makes greater efforts to streamline operations following its profit-padding scandal, a company source said Saturday.
The net loss, which will balloon from ¥37.8 billion for the previous year, will eclipse the current record of ¥398.8 billion logged in the year through March 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Its operating loss for fiscal 2015 is expected to top ¥200 billion, against a profit of ¥170.4 billion for fiscal 2014, according to the source. 

Slated to announce Monday a restructuring plan for its home electronics business, including white goods, televisions and personal computers, the company will also unveil its earnings outlook for the current fiscal year, which has so far been withheld. 

As part of its restructuring efforts, the company is considering slashing several thousand jobs both at home and abroad, including some 1,000 jobs in Japan, sources familiar with the matter said. 

Toshiba is considering downsizing its Ome complex in western Tokyo, which is engaged in TV and PC development, according to the sources. 

It is expected to sell its TV plant in Indonesia while transferring a factory in Egypt to its local joint venture partner El Araby Group to pull out of TV production on its own.
Toshiba is also considering merging its PC business with those of Fujitsu Ltd. and Vaio Corp., which was spun off from Sony Corp. last year. Toshiba’s white goods operation may be sold to Sharp Corp. under another plan. 

The scandal, in which Toshiba repeatedly padded profits by deferring the booking of losses in infrastructure, semiconductor and PC businesses, has led the firm to revise downward its profits totaling ¥224.8 billion on a pretax basis from April 2008 to December 2014. 

In a related development, the Financial Services Agency, Japan’s financial watchdog, is arranging to prohibit Toshiba’s corporate auditor from taking new contracts for three months for negligence and failure to uncover the accounting irregularities, another source said the same day. 

Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC will also face about ¥2 billion in surcharges, the first case under the revised Certified Public Accountants Law that took effect in 2008 following another accounting scandal, plus an order to improve its business, the source said.

Belgium Nuclear plant Junk

What is wrong with our western nations. This guy to just too old to be running and impossible to maintained. It should be a 2000s vintage plant. 

Fire shuts down nuclear reactor in Belgium 

December 19, 2015 - 8:48:44 am\ 

Brussels: A nuclear reactor at Tihange power station in Belgium has been turned off because of a fire in the plant, media reports said Saturday.

Reactor unit 1 was automatically switched off during the fire on Friday evening, which occurred in a non-nuclear section of the plant. The incident did not impact workers, the public or the environment, operator Electrabel said, according to Belga news agency.

Tihange is located about 70 kilometers west of the German border town of Aachen.

Earlier in the week, the plant's reactor unit 2 was restarted after a nearly two-year shutdown despite the objections of neighboring German officials, who called the decision 'irresponsible'.

Electrabel said it put the reactor back online 'in complete safety'. The facility has long been criticized as a potential safety hazard, with Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia Environment Minister Johannes Remmel recently calling it a 'crumbling reactor' and accusing Belgian authorities of 'playing Russian roulette'.

• Tihange 1: 962 MW_e (1975)
• Tihange 2: 1008 MW_e (1983)
• Tihange 3: 1015 MW_e (1985)

Prairie Island Junk

306, 282

Why is xcel stock price off a huge almost 3% today?  I don't think its related to PI? 

Unit 2 also shut down in June for repairs after a turbine trip caused by low oil pressure.

Rework? 

What grand nuclear power plant overhaul did Excel bungle recently? 

Work wraps up on Prairie Island Unit 2

By Red Wing Newsroom on Dec 9, 2015 at 12:00 p.m.

News Red Wing,Minnesota 55066 http://www.republican-eagle.com/sites/all/themes/republicaneagle_theme/images/social_default_image.png

Red Wing Newsroom

Republican Eagle http://www.republican-eagle.com

Work wraps up on Prairie Island Unit 2

Red Wing Minnesota 2760 North Service Drive / P.O. Box 15 55066

The 29th refueling outage of Unit 2 at Prairie Island nuclear plant was completed Dec. 6, Xcel Energy announced Tuesday. More than 1,000 contractors and employees replaced about a third of the fuel in the reactor, as well as replaced its main electrical generator and step-up transformer — work only possible when the unit is offline. 

Knowing these guys another oil pipe cracked and oil began leaking on hot piping or oil soaked insulation. The crack wasn't big enough to trip the turbine...

LER 15-003-00

On June 7, 2015, Unit 2 Turbine Bearing Oil Pressure was normal at approximately 19 psig. At approximately 05:00, the Unit 2 Turbine Bearing Oil Pressure started to decrease. The Unit 2 Turbine Bearing Oil Pressure decreased at an increasing rate until at 07:35 oil pressure sharply decreased from approximately 17.7 psi to a level that required a turbine trip (trip setpoint is 6 psi). Unit 2 Turbine Bearing Oil Pressure quickly recovered from a low point as indicated on Emergency Response Computer System (ERCS) of 4.3 psi at 07:36:19 to above 16 psi at 07:36:21. Turbine Bearing Oil Pressure was able to be maintained by the Turning Gear Oil Pump while the turbine was on turning gear at a nominal pressure of 21 psi. The Unit 2 Turbine was removed from the turning gear at 00:30 on June 8, 2015. The oil system was shut down a short time thereafter. Oil was drained from the Unit 2 Turbine Oil Reservoir on June 8, 2015 at 06:00. As a result of the investigation, the site identified a circumferential crack on a welded joint upstream of check valve 2T0-303 on June 8, 2015 at18:23. (Corrective Action Program (CAP) Action Request (AR) 1482236). The weld was repaired by Work Order 524416-06 on June 10, 2015. 

These guys have been continuously a problem plant for many years and decades. They are always in the reports.

Power Reactor	Event Number: 51609
Facility: PRAIRIE ISLAND Region: 3 State: MN Unit: [ ] [2] [ ] RX Type: [1] W-2-LP,[2] W-2-LP NRC Notified By: WAYNE SEXSON HQ OPS Officer: DONG HWA PARK	Notification Date: 12/17/2015 Notification Time: 14:33 [ET] Event Date: 12/17/2015 Event Time: 13:18 [CST] Last Update Date: 12/17/2015
Emergency Class: UNUSUAL EVENT 10 CFR Section: 50.72(a) (1) (i) - EMERGENCY DECLARED 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION	Person (Organization): NICK VALOS (R3DO) ALLEN HOWE (NRR) JEFFERY GRANT (IRD) BILL DEAN (NRR) DARRELL ROBERTS (R3 D)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
2	A/R	Y	100	Power Operation	0	Hot Standby

Event Text

UNUSUAL EVENT DECLARED DUE TO FIRE ALARM IN CONTAINMENT NOT VERIFIED WITHIN 15 MINUTES "Unusual Event HU2.1 declared at 1318 [CST]. A fire alarm was received in unit 2 containment at 1307 [CST]. Due to the location of the alarm, personnel were unable to verify the status within 15 minutes. At 1343 [CST], the fire alarm in containment cleared. This alarm came in shortly after a unit 2 reactor trip. The reactor trip was due to a turbine trip. Decay heat removal is via forced circulation with aux feed and steam dumps providing secondary cooling. Offsite power remains available." The reactor trip was uncomplicated and all control rods inserted. 25B feedwater heater relief valve lifted and has reseated. No offsite assistance was requested. The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector. State and local authorities were notified. * * * UPDATE ON 12/17/2015 AT 1734 EST FROM TOM HOLT TO DONG PARK * * * "The licensee terminated the NOUE [Notification of Unusual Event] at 1450 CST. The basis for the termination was determination that there was no smoke or fire in the Unit 2 containment observed during containment entry. "NRC Resident Inspectors were notified. State and local governments were notified. The health and safety of the public was not at risk." Notified the R3DO (Valos), NRR EO (Morris), IRD (Grant), DHS SWO, FEMA Ops enter, and NICC Watch Officer. E-mailed FEMA NWC and Nuclear SSA.

Safety Relief Valves SRVs melted In Fukushima

updated 12/18

Main Steam Safety Relief Valves Buna-N thread seals

I was coached the regs says the drywell environmental design temp is 340 degrees.

I think the original SRV manufacture had the actuator design seals high temp consideration right. It speaks to how unthoughtful we have become with the design of safety equipment and replacement parts. The first swipe in designs stated the replacement seal was required to be asbestos. Who even cares what temperatures the drywell got with the severely temperature resistant asbestos.

I have written a lot up on VY SRV actuator problems in the final years of the plant. Got a 2.206 on it. Just do a goggle search on popperville, Vermont Yankee, Safety Relief Valves and buna-n or some combination. 

***This reminds me of the Buno-n material they put in the Vermont Yankee's SRV actuators. Basically only qualified to 140 degrees when they needed 400 degrees in it. Mysteriously put in type II valves when it should have been type 1 valves. VY did this intentionally and the NRC allowed them to get away with it.

Collectively and systemically I feel the industry and the NRC has been undermining safety environmental qualification across the board for many years now.   

Safety Relief Valves melted In Fukushima. 

Delay in cooling Fukushima reactor possibly due to melted rubber, says Tepco

Kyodo

• Dec 17, 2015

The injection of water to cool one of the reactors that suffered meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex in 2011 was delayed because the rubber parts in valves used to reduce reactor pressure had possibly melted, the plant operator said Thursday. 

According to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the component that may have melted is part of a device used to open the so-called safety relief valve when steam building up inside the reactor pressure vessel needs to be released in an emergency. 

Tepco had been unable to explain why workers faced difficulty opening the safety relief valves of the No. 2 reactor, but the company now says “one of the reasons” may have been because the component melted and was not able to function properly. 

The temperature limit for the component was about 170 degrees Celsius, but Tepco found it was able to withstand that level of temperature for only several hours. 

The nuclear crisis began on March 11, 2011, when earthquake-triggered tidal waves hit the plant, flooding electrical equipment and leading to the loss of reactor cooling systems. 

The system that had kept cooling the No. 2 reactor ceased on March 14. Workers sought to inject water by using fire trucks, but could not do so because the pressure inside the reactor was too high. 

Tepco thus sought to open the eight safety relief valves by using battery power, but the operation did not go smoothly. After several attempts the valves were finally opened, enabling water to be poured inside the reactor. 

For a safety relief valve to open, it needs to be supplied with nitrogen gas through another valve, to which the rubber component in question is attached. But nitrogen gas might have leaked when the component melted, Tepco said.