Junk Grand Gulf: Wide Spead Nuclear Instrumentation Troubles Upon Startup

This constitutes extreme negligence and malicious unprofessionalism...

The whole pattern of plant operations in the last few years constitutes extreme unprofessionalism. Why can't we do something about these dangerous guys?

They are going to wreck the whole industry.

Then two different nuclear instrumentation broke for separate reasons. Unbelievable. What about the signoff checks before startup that failed to detect these. These guys weren't prepared for startup.

We need a special inspection for this or higher...

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53090
Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4 State: MS Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: DAVID BURRUS HQ OPS Officer: DAN LIVERMORE	Notification Date: 11/25/2017 Notification Time: 06:02 [ET] Event Date: 11/25/2017 Event Time: 02:38 [CST] Last Update Date: 11/26/2017
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL	Person (Organization): MICHAEL HAY (R4DO)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
1	M/R	Y	0	Startup	0	Hot Shutdown

Event Text

MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM DURING STARTUP "At 0238 [CST] a manual reactor scram was inserted by placing the Reactor Mode Switch in Shutdown. At 0149 [CST], with reactor power just above the point of adding heat, IRM [Intermediate Range Monitor] channels A, C, and D received a spurious upscale trip signal which immediately cleared. Upon investigation, operability of RPS [Reactor Protection System] scram function for Intermediate Range Detectors was placed in question. This event is being reported under 10CFR 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B), as any event or condition that results in actuation of the Reactor Protection System (RPS), when the reactor is critical." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. * * * UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 26, 2017, AT 1850 FROM GRAND GULF TO MICHAEL BLOODGOOD * * * "At 0238 [CST] a manual reactor scram was inserted by placing the Reactor Mode Switch in Shutdown. At 0149 [CST], with reactor power just above the point of adding heat, Intermediate Range Monitor neutron flux detector (IRM) channels A, C, and D received a spurious Upscale Trip signal which immediately cleared. Upon investigation, IRM channels A, C, and D were declared Inoperable. IRM G was already Inoperable for another reason. RPS scram function from IRM channels B, E, F, and H was always Operable and available. That event is being reported under 10CFR 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B), as any event or condition that results in actuation of the Reactor Protection System (RPS), when the reactor is critical. "This Revised Statement to Event Notification # 53090 is being made to make it clear that only four IRM channels (A, C, D, G) were Inoperable and that the IRM RPS SCRAM function was still available from the four remaining Operable IRM channels (B, E, F, and H)." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified R4DO (O'Keefe)

Sunk Argentine Submarine

So it the battery. Operating a 34 year old submarine is maliciously negligent...  

President Mauricio Macri has ordered an inquiry to “know the truth” about what happened to Argentina’s missing submarine, the San Juan, which disappeared with the loss of its 44 crew.
The 34-year-old submarine had gone through a refit and was “in perfect condition”, Macri told reporters at the Argentine navy headquarters.
“My commitment is with the truth,” he said, adding the tragedy “will require a serious, in-depth investigation that will yield certainty about what has happened”.
Argentina’s navy has been fiercely criticised for its handling of the operation since first reporting the submarine overdue at its Mar del Plata base on November 16.
The navy took several days to say that the San Juan had reported a problem with its batteries in its final communication on November 15.
Only on Thursday did the navy confirm there had been an explosion on board, which experts said was likely linked to the battery problem.
“Until we have the complete information, we do not have to look for the guilty, to look for those responsible. First we have to have certainty of what happened and why it happened,” said Macri.

***Bet you it was a big short on the main battery and creating much fire and smoke. 

Then the fire cooked off a torpedo.

Bet you the USA has the whole ocean instrumented up for sound…

Cooper's Interesting Safety Relief Valve LER

Update

The next LER had only one set pressure lift inaccuracy. These guys in the past had the majority of SRV setpoint failures every testing cycle. This is a huge win!!!  

I am surprised I missed this one considering my interest in SRVs. The brand new excuse here industry wide is they machine the disc and set. They reassemble the value not allowing the corrosion to build up on them both. It seems they are thinking if they let the oxide layer to age and build up before assembly, they would have no more problems. 

Licensee Event Report No. 2015-001-01 Cooper Nuclear Station, Docket No. 50-298, DPR-46

Corrosion bonding occurs when the protective oxide layers of the seat and disc break down and allow a crevice corrosion process to develop between the seat and disc. The seat is machined and then lapped with the disc to create a tight fit with one another. During the material removal process (machining) on both the seat and disc, the protective oxide layer that provides corrosion protection is removed. Because the SRV pilot valves are then assembled, the oxide layer is not given sufficient time to reestablish itself naturally, and no external process, such as pickling, is done to ensure that the oxide layer is reestablished to its full extent without any breaks or discontinuities. When the SRV pilot valves are assembled, the seat and disc are jammed together and air cannot reach the surfaces, therefore the full benefits of the oxide layer of the anti-corrosion material is diminished.

Troubled Columbia Licensed Supervisor Found Drunk at Work

Power Reactor Event Number: 53068 Facility: COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION Region: 4 State: WA Unit: [2] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [2] GE-5 NRC Notified By: BRUCE HUGO HQ OPS Officer: JEFF HERRERA Notification Date: 11/13/2017 Notification Time: 17:26 [ET] Event Date: 11/13/2017 Event Time: 08:02 [PST] Last Update Date: 11/13/2017 Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 26.719 - FITNESS FOR DUTY Person (Organization): MARK HAIRE (R4DO) FFD GROUP (EMAI) Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode 2 N Y 100 Power Operation 100 Power Operation Event Text FITNESS FOR DUTY - POSITIVE RESULT FOR ALCOHOL "A licensed supervisor had a confirmed positive test for alcohol. The employee was escorted offsite and their plant access has been terminated and a five year denial placed in Personnel Access Data System (PADS). "This is being reported per 10 CFR 26.719(b)(2)(ii). "The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified."

What The Hell, Junk Plant Grand Gulf Down to 90%

???

preoperational testing and first years capacity factor? z

The Extreme Consevative Teaparty has Turned Against Vogtle

Augusta Chronicle: Stop rewarding failure: Protect consumers, not profits

More than a decade ago, our nation decided to pursue more nuclear power generation. Two reactors were to be built here in Georgia at Plant Vogtle in Burke County and dozens more across the country. We supported that effort and those investments for a number of reasons. 

But what we did not support was providing corporate welfare to big power companies and unfairly picking winners and losers for our energy future. This combination has put all the project’s risks on the backs of electric customers – Georgia’s families and businesses – instead of on Southern Co.’s shareholders.

The Georgia General Assembly made a terrible mistake in 2009 when they passed Senate Bill 31, the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act. This established a tax that Georgia Power’s customers – mainly small businesses, residential users and municipalities – had to pay every month in advance of any electricity being produced to cover the Vogtle project’s financing costs, including Company profits. Since 2011 more than $2 billion has been collected.

The federal government offered many corporate handouts too, at the expense of taxpayers, to make this project work. This included more than $8 billion in loan guarantees – 16 times more than the federal loans provided to Solyndra, which was a failure and cost taxpayers dearly. And guess what: The Vogtle owners want $3.7 billion more in federal bailouts. 

These state and federal policies unfairly picked winners and losers. The marketplace was never given a chance to decide what energy choices were actually competitive. Without having to compete, new nuclear power was handed a victory here in Georgia over options such as wind and solar that now are proven winners in free markets.

New nuclear is a proven loser – so much so that no other reactors are being built here in the U.S. and nearly all those proposed have been cancelled. 

The new Vogtle reactors should have been operating by now but are delayed until 2022, if not later. And the costs, due to combination of factors including mismanagement, years of delays, and the bankruptcy of designer and builder Westinghouse, have now doubled to at least $25 billion. And there is no guarantee that is the final price tag or that they will ever operate. To add insult to injury, Georgia Power is making a profit off the construction cost overages. 

And to make matters even worse, there is not even a viable long-term plan in place for disposing of spent fuel from the existing reactors, let alone future waste.
Why continue rewarding failure? 

Georgia Power has now put the Georgia Public Service Commission, with five elected commissioners, in a corner – demanding they grant everything the company wants: higher costs, guaranteed profits and no risks to their shareholders or partners. If the commissioners don’t agree, the company says they’ll cancel the project. Georgia Power wants assurance that customers will pay for multibillion-dollar mistakes.

After years of granting Georgia Power many billions in pre-approved costs at the expense of customers as the project was going off-track, the Commissioners now need to stand firm: stop bailing out irresponsibility. It’s Georgia Power’s and their partners’ decision on whether to continue with Vogtle or not – the PSC just needs to make sure it’s not done at the expense of Georgia ratepayers. 

And the Georgia General Assembly needs to own up to their costly mistake of encouraging corporate welfare and repeal SB31 to prevent any future financial meltdowns. 

The bungled Vogtle expansion transcends political ideology. If the General Assembly and the Georgia Public Service Commissioners don’t stand up to these greedy corporate interests, Georgians need to hold them accountable in next year’s 2018 elections.

Ms. Dooley is a lifelong Republican activist and one of the national founders of the Tea Party movement. She serves as president of the Green Tea Coalition and Conservatives for Energy Freedom.
Mr. Staples is an IT instructor specializing in teaching security and project management courses across the country. He ran as a Libertarian for the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2012, and was a co-founder of the nonpartisan Green Tea Coalition.

Huge Political and Public Service Commission Realignment Coming to Georgia

Based on the South Carolinas Experience. This whole thing challenges the extremist conservative Southern ideology.   

The speaker was involved with this and backed them. Now he is backpedaling fighting for his political life. The Georgia politicians are now planning for the same thing. This thing was always to large and the largest utilities never had horsepower to control the build and pockets deep enough to fund to completion. The only big enough to do it was the US government. It should have been a government program. But all conservative ideology is locale based and they hate big government. 

The SC speaker is saying the construction in progress legislation was the fault of the debacle. So the South Carolina legislators are going to bar a plant being put on rate base before completion. Georgia has the same laws as SC. The GA PSC is going to take a beating if they continue to allow construction is progress rules. If the SC political system says the Summer failure was the result of the construction works in progress, how can Georgia continue to justify their laws.          

saying they would “gut existing laws” that allowed utilities to charge customers before the reactors were complete, and help avoid another expensive construction failure.

  
The Georgia Power ultimatum. The Vogtle new build is bleed ing out and there is nothing anyone can do. The only thing they can do is to delay the death of the program. The longer the death takes, the larger the consequences will be to the political system.  

Kurt Ebersbach, senior attorney: “We’re concerned that this request amounts to a blank check. If you read their filing carefully, they really don’t make any bones about it. They are saying, ‘Commission, you must approve this revised cost estimate, tell us it is reasonable or we will not go forward.’ That if there is any hint they may not be able to recover all of it down the road, then they will not go forward. The project co-owners will not go forward.”

House Speaker: Change laws after nuclear plant failure  

The South Carolina House speaker is proposing six new laws after the abandonment of two nuclear reactors in the state

Associated Press

4:27 PM

Nov 10, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina House speaker is proposing six laws aimed at protecting consumers from the consequences of a failed project to build two nuclear reactors.
South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and the state-owned utility Santee Cooper have sought to insulate themselves from the hemorrhaging costs of their ill-fated joint venture at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, which they abandoned on July 31 after Westinghouse Electric, the Cranberry-based chief contractor, declared bankruptcy. The utilities had already spent more than $9 billion by then, collecting nearly $2 billion in interest from ratepayers along the way.
House Speaker Jay Lucas of Hartsville announced his proposals on Thursday, saying they would “gut existing laws” that allowed utilities to charge customers before the reactors were complete, and help avoid another expensive construction failure.

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“The legislation introduced today lowers current rates and prevents consumers from paying a single penny more for the costly failed project,” the Republican’s statement said.
Mr. Lucas’ legislation would cut SCE&G customer rates by 18 percent, the amount they’re currently paying for the project. A typical residential customer would save about $27 per month. The hit to SCE&G would total about $37 million per month, or nearly $450 million per year.
Another proposal would allow refunds of what customers have already paid, if regulators conclude there had been “poor management” by SCE&G. Still another would prevent Santee Cooper from collecting money to reimburse itself the costs of ending the project.
Currently, Santee Cooper is not subject to Public Service Commission oversight.

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The proposed legislation would change that, and shake up its management structure as well, removing Santee Cooper’s board of directors, the Public Service Commissioners and even the panel that that interviews prospective members of the regulatory panel. Their replacements would be required to pass rigorous qualifications.
Mr. Lucas also would give the Office of Regulatory staff, a state watchdog agency, more power.
Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore said the utility is reviewing the proposals. SCE&G had no immediate comment, but previously dismissed such ideas as “radical and disruptive.”
Incoming CEO Jimmy Addison of SCANA, SCE&G’s parent company, said making the utility pay its share of the project would scare off investors and lenders, making it harder to finance day-to-day operations, including purchasing fuel, hiring contractors for repairs and paying employees.
Already, SCANA stock has dropped 25 percent, reducing the company’s market capitalization to $6.3 billion, since the project was abandoned.

Virgil C. Summer: What Is Going To Be The Fallout With the Operating Units?

With the parent company SCANA in so much financial troubles dumping the new construction plants and undergoing a host of investigation...what is going to be the fallout of the remaining plants.

Will the operating nuke employees become disillusioned...

Will SCANA having so much financial problems, will they cut back funding of the operating units...

Will they have to put up the plants for sale or shutdown. Remember the power of transparency...they are under intense public and media scrutiny...public and media can out like hidden problems under intense scrutiny...

Did SCANA already start withholding funding from the operating plants as survival tactic to save the new build...

The Navy's Fat Leonard Problems...Do Navy Officers Get Drug Tested???

You got to know Fatty was plying drugs to the Navy officers. None of them had any scruples. Why didn't the Navy pick up drugs in testing these officers blood or hair?

CRIME
11/06/2017 07:41 am ET

Sex, Booze And Bribes Corruption Probe Targets 60 U.S. Navy Admirals: Report
A contractor named “Fat Leonard” provided wild times for classified information, the government says.

By Mary Papenfuss

A massive investigation of U.S. Navy corruption in Asia that featured wild parties, bribes and prostitutes has expanded to include more than than 60 admirals and hundreds of other Navy officers, The Washington Post reports.

The probe centers on Malaysian contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Glenn Francis, who provided money and wild times in exchange for classified information to win lucrative contracts with the 7th Fleet for his Singapore-based company and defraud the U.S. government, according to the newspaper.

The Justice Department has already filed charges against 28 people, including two admirals, since Francis was arrested in a sting operation four years ago. But that could just be the beginning. Eighteen people have pleaded guilty to charges that include violations of military law and federal ethics rules.

The Navy told the Post that investigators have been examining the conduct of 440 personnel, current and retired, including at least 60 admirals.

Indictments in March against nine officers allege that Francis plied the men with Cuban cigars, $25,000 watches, and $50,000 worth of alcohol for a multi-day party, and a “rotating carousel of prostitutes” in exchange for information, Foreign Policy reported. Francis once rented the MacArthur Suite at the Manila Hotel, where Gen. Douglas MacArthur memorabilia was used for sex acts with prostitutes, according to the indictment.

Insufficient Entergy Funding Caused the Problems at ANO

Does the squeaky wheel get the attention. It must have been a organization wide thing this insufficient funding?

Are the troubles with Grand Gulf really just a insufficient funding thing. Is the squeaky wheel ANO stealing money and opportunity from Grand Gulf.

I basically think this is a ideology thing. We are basically a totalitarian conservative ideological organization, this is the foundation of our business.       

What caused the NRC not to see this horrendous disfunction just before the stator drop accident that finally outed it all???

 

Entergy seeks 3.75% bump in state's rate Commission set to decide on increase bid next month

By David Smith

This article was published November 9, 2017 at 4:30 a.m.

Electric rates for Entergy Arkansas residential customers will rise 3.75 percent next year if approved next month by the Arkansas Public Service Commission.

The largest electric utility in the state with about 715,000 customers in 63 counties, Entergy reached a settlement last week with the parties to its case before the commission.

The commission heard testimony Wednesday on the settlement.

The increase means a residential customer with a $100 monthly bill now would have a bill of $103.75 a month when the change goes into effect on Jan. 2. The increase for industrial users will be about 3.72 percent, John Bethel, executive director of the commission's general staff, said Wednesday.

As requested by Entergy, the commission should make a decision on the settlement by Dec. 13, Bethel said.

Entergy filed a request for new rates with the commission in April under a more streamlined annual filing process that was approved by the Legislature.

Last year, the commission approved a 3.38 percent increase for Entergy. Those rates were charged this year.

The streamlined filing process caps Entergy Arkansas' rate increases at 4 percent a year.

During Wednesday's hearing, Commissioner Elana Wills asked Richard Riley, Entergy Arkansas' president, if Entergy is in a period of very high capital investment.

"Are we over the hump after 2018?" Wills asked. "Is the trend line going back down after that period or is it something that is going to continue?"

For the investment required to transmit and distribute electricity and maintain a nuclear power plant, Entergy "is not over the hump yet," Riley said.

"We're really just starting to modernize, for example, our distribution system," Riley said, "and it may be 2020 or 2021," before Entergy Arkansas can lower its spending on infrastructure.

Asked by commission Chairman Ted Thomas about the status of Arkansas Nuclear One near Russellville, Riley said Entergy Arkansas is spending the money needed to continue operations.

"For the next four or five years, we'll have a heightened level of spending at [Arkansas Nuclear One]," Riley said. "After that it will level off some. The new level of spend might be different than the old level of spend. A good example is the hiring of additional staff. We would hope to keep that level of staff going forward, which would result in a bit higher expense than in 2010 or 2012."

But portions of Entergy's expenses aren't covered by the current rate case.

Future rate increase requests could include costs associated with an industrial accident at Arkansas Nuclear One in 2013 that caused the death of one worker and eight injuries.

On March 31, 2013, the mishandling of a 1 million-pound generator stator caused it to fall 30 feet while it was being moved. The crashing stator dislodged beams. One of the beams struck and killed worker Wade Walters, 24.

In 2015, in the aftermath of the accident, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission moved the Arkansas nuclear plant down to the column-four category of the commission's rating of overall plant performance. Plants in column five aren't permitted to operate.

Riley told the commission Wednesday that Entergy expects the nuclear power plant will be out of column four by next June.

"Entergy has committed to complete all of the outstanding items identified in the performance improvement plan for Arkansas Nuclear One by June 30, 2018," Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an email Wednesday. "When this has occurred, [the nuclear commission] will conduct an independent inspection to verify the adequacy of the corrective actions and make a decision about returning the plant to normal oversight."

Entergy will file a separate case with the commission, possibly in 2020 or later, on the costs associated with the accident. The case will be referred to as the "Stator-related Recovery Docket," the current settlement agreement said.

There are at least seven lawsuits that have been filed in Pope County concerning the accident, including one Entergy has filed against its insurance carrier, Entergy said in the settlement.

The stator case will not be filed until at least six months after those cases have been adjudicated.

The costs associated with the accident are at least $218 million, Entergy said in the settlement agreement.

Those costs include about $65.9 million in replacement power costs while part of the plant was shut down after the accident, $30.6 million in capital costs related to the accident and $112 million in costs related to increased regulatory costs and compliance.

The stator case will be subject to review by the commission, Bethel said.

'Vogtle delays and cost overruns not our fault, Georgia Power CEO says'?

This would be the show stopper for me if I was on the Ga. Public Service Commission. How can you trust this guy in the future. Say, say if the plant budget doubles again and it finally is really to go on the line, he days its not out fault again.  

Vogtle delays and cost overruns not our fault, Georgia Power CEO says

business

By Michael E. Kanell - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Years of delays and billions of cost overruns at Plant Vogtle cannot be blamed on any mistakes made by Georgia Power, the company’s chief executive said in an interview Friday.

In a meeting with reporters at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Paul Bowers cited other factors, including bankruptcy of the main contractor, as well as actions and requirements imposed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Has Georgia Power made mistakes?

“The answer to that question is no,” Bowers said.

TVA's CEO Says...

They focus on short term budgeting, then cut maintenance, profits swell...then a bad accident shows up. Then feds makes them spend a ton of money to bring the site back up to average. This is a very expensive way to run a nuclear plant.  

Repeat over and over again.  

TVA raises CEO pay after utility cuts costs, rates, pollution and injuries

Hmm, Bill Jonson. Not much nuclear accolades. 

“With energy demand stagnant or declining for the first time in TVA's 84-year history, Johnson said the current energy market "is as challenging as any in my 40 years in the business" and he said the pace of change is accelerating.”

NRC Official Allegation To Me and Required Acknowledgement: Vogtle and Westinghouse

(Works in progress)

Hmm, Washington's Allegation people, not Region 1 or 2 Allegation people. They are paying attention to me. 

So what is the political scene? Huge political shift seen out of this recent election. Everyone is going to vote mid terms "any one but Trump". The pols are worrying about a huge shift in the senate and house. We have entered a completely new political arena.

What about our southern break away rebel territories? You know our south. Once the money stopped flowing to the Summer, all the rats began jumping ship and telling their tales. The Summer plant only a few months are was basically a honey pot for the elites of South Carolina, now whistleblowers have come out telling us how chaotic the site was. Disclosing after the money stopped is really not whistleblowing. Whistleblowing are disclosures made when the spigot is going full bore. So now the Summer Plant has a host of state and federal investigation ongoing. The whole system is riddled with corruption. 
So what way do you think the Georgia Public Service Board is heading. The Commissioners are all politicians and get elected. They are effectively the great southern good old ultra conservative right wing boys. They are indebted to the utilities. The Southern Company,  like all utilities, a astute and wealthy political player. These guys are masters of the game.

I think we will see a dramatic change with the PSB. They see the historic anti Trump tsunami  approaching them in the mid terms. It is going to be a long term change. They know the documentation is shaky at Summer. They worry there is big secrets buried on the Vogtle grounds, just ready to burst out like Summer on a whim. The PSB is worried about getting subpoenas, just like about anyone who works on the Vogtle plant.

I am sure the NRC understands this.

I would expect the PSB will pay it safe, they will take Vogtle 3 & 4 off the rate base.      

Concern Regarding Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and 4 (Allegation No. NRO-2017-A-0015) Crutchley, Julie <Julie.Crutchley@nrc.gov> 12:49 PM (19 hours ago) to me, Sara, Sean, Stella, Dori Dear Mr. Mulligan: Attached is a formal acknowledgment letter for the allegation you discussed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Headquarters Allegation Team on October 31, 2017 regarding Westinghouse and Vogtle Units 3 and 4.   If you would be so kind, please confirm receipt and your ability to read this letter by replying to "all" listed above.  That way we know our letter has reached you, and we would like to keep a copy of your receipt confirmation for our records.  If you have any questions or comments on the attached letter, please contact a member of the NRC Headquarters Allegation Team.  You may contact us individually as listed below, or reach all of us at HQ_Allegations@nrc.gov. ·       Ms. Dori Willis, Senior Office Allegation Coordinator (Dori.Willis@nrc.gov), 301-287-9423 ·       Mr. Sean Meighan, Office Allegation Coordinator (Sean.Meighan@nrc.gov), 301-287-9094 ·       Ms. Sara Bernal-Taylor, Allegation Specialist (Sara.Bernal-Taylor@nrc.gov), 301-287-9296 ·       Ms. Stella Opara, Allegation Specialist (Stella.Opara@nrc.gov), 301-287-9286 Regards, Julie Crutchley JULIE A. CRUTCHLEY Allegation Administrative Assistant Headquarters Allegation Team U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD  20852 Email:    Julie.Crutchley@nrc.gov Phone:  301-287-9293 Fax:       301-415-3325

Exelon's Merchant Subsidiary Files For Bankrupcy

Market conditions must be bad?

Exelon's Texas merchant subsidiary files for bankruptcy

By

Robert Walton @TeamWetDog

Published

Nov. 7, 2017

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Dive Brief:

Exelon Corp. announced this morning that its Texas merchant power subsidiary ExGen Texas Power (EGTP) Holdings LLC and ExGen Texas Power LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with an eye towards reducing debt at the companies.

News stories earlier this year cited anonymous sources saying Exelon had brought an adviser on board to help it deal with mounting debt at the power subsidiary. The company reportedly selected PJT Partners Inc. to help address $650 million in debt.

EGTP's Board of Directors will go forward with a two-part plan for the company, including a negotiated agreement with lenders that would allow Exelon Generation to continue to own and operate the Handley Generating Station in exchange for a $60 million payment to the lenders. 

Dive Insight:

Prior to the announcement, ExGen Texas Power owned five generating facilities in the Lone Star state, but the bankruptcy agreement will change that. In the second part of the company's plan, lenders agreed to exchange the debt they currently hold in EGTP’s other four plants for equity in the plants, effectively taking ownership of all but Handley.

In a statement, the company said Exelon Generation "remains committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure the best outcome for our employees, customers, communities and shareholders.” The bankruptcy filings "help to facilitate the planned transactions and provide additional tools to reduce the amount of debt the plants would otherwise take forward, thereby maximizing their opportunities for long-term success."

Exelon blamed the financial woes on "historically low power prices within Texas" that created "challenging market conditions for all power generators, including the five natural gas-fired EGTP plants." 

UCS :Junk Plant Grand Gulf

He knows how I feel about Grand Gulf. 

Grand Gulf: Three Nuclear Safety Miscues in MississippiWarranting NRC’s Attention

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project | November 8, 2017, 6:00 am ES

This post is a part of a series on Near Misses at U.S. Nuclear Power Plants

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reacted to a trio of miscues at the Grand Gulf nuclear plant in Mississippi by sending a special inspection team to investigate. While none of the events had adverse nuclear safety consequences, the NRC team identified significantly poor performance by the operators in all three. The recurring performance shortfalls instill little confidence that the operators would perform successfully in event of a design basis or beyond design basis accident…

Junk Plant Fitzparick: Fuel Failures

update Nov 10

So why has Fitz been down to 75% power since the fuel leak down power last weekend? It has been down for 5 or 6 days? It is highly abnormal!!!

So what changed? They were heading to a near death experience, then Energy sold the plant to Exelon.  I don't remember them having fuel damage problems before. Outage in Jan 2017.

Fretting... small metal parts from the outage circulating in the coolant.

Three showing up at the same time, abnormal. Are they in the same area of the core?

Did they change the fuel supplier?  

Radiation from damaged fuel rods leads Oswego nuke plant to power down
Updated Nov 7, 4:14 PM; Posted Nov 7, 3:31 PM

The FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Scriba, Oswego County.(NRC)

By Douglass Dowty

ddowty@syracuse.com,

syracuse.com

Oswego, NY -- Officials at the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant near Oswego are investigating why fuel rods in the reactor's core are leaking radiation, according to the federal government.

It's a not considered an emergency -- only three of the plant's roughly 33,500 fuel rods are leaking -- but it could spread contaminated water to other parts of the plant, said U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan.

So FitzPatrick's parent, Exelon Corp., powered down the facility over the past few days to isolate the damaged fuel rods, Sheehan said.

The plant was down to 58 percent capacity over the weekend before ramping up to 82 percent capacity today. It's on the way back to full capacity, Sheehan said.

An Exelon spokeswoman called it a minor problem.

"Operators have suppressed a minor defect in a fuel bundle using control rods, which

This is going to be a very costly event. It is going to make the core and all their components more costly with contamination. It slows down all the jobs with costly radiation precautions. Depending the type of leak, it could get much more costly with a much bigger leak. Preparing for the permanent shutdown many years prior too, they might have shifted the core flux so they could use up as much uranium as possible upon last shutdown. Now they had to rearrange the core back to normal operation. It is a very complex operation not normally done. There just might be a error in that.   

will allow for reliable operation until the station's next refueling outage when the bundle can be replaced," said Tammy Holden, the company spokeswoman.

The NRC said that the leakage doesn't pose any health risk for the community: the water in contact with the damaged fuel rods is part of a closed system with filters that remove dangerous levels of contamination.

But Sheehan called it an "anomaly" that the company would need to address.

The rods themselves are 12 feet long and about the width of an index finger, Sheehan said.

FitzPatrick, like its Nine Mile Point neighbors, uses a nuclear reaction to heat up water, which then powers a turbine. It's the heated water that is prone to increased contamination from the damaged fuel rods.

But that water is scrubbed and sent back to the reactor core, not released into the environment, Sheehan said.

Exelon is in the process of isolating the leaking rods, which will then be taken out of service and replaced at the next refueling, which happens every 18 months to 2 years, Sheehan said.

Junk Plant Grand Gulf: Can't Make Any Money With This Dog?

Update Non 8

93% last night.

***They have been down  to 99% for the last few days. Not enough to make a post about. But on the second day of 99% power I knew something was up.

Huge down power to 58% today. The other region IV Entergy plants have been behaving well in the last few months.

Voglte Non Professional Engineers.

The NRC was focused on pumping me about who gave me the inside tip. There just wasn't much she gave me. You here is me saying now is this enough information to open a investigation.

Michael Mulligan <steamshovel2002@yahoo.com>

To:allegation@nrc.gov

‎Nov‎ ‎6 at ‎11‎:‎06‎ ‎AM

I apologized because I was a still upset over the Vogtle and Summer plants last time we spoke. I have been working on this a little with the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  You know, getting the word out.

What I can see, the NRC was not proactive by assuming Vogtle blue prints not approved by professional engineers.” A high quality inference  should have been enough to start a investigation.!!!

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/georgia-regulators-begin-series-of-hearings-over-vogtle-nuclear-project/510069/

“One of the items on the PSC agenda will be documents that have come to light that show that Southern affiliate Georgia Power signed off on the blueprints for the reactors that were not approved by professional engineers.”

So I got a call from two NRC officials following me up on my compliant about non professional engineering. I am trying to throw the AJC a bone trying to get them to ask question. I would call the AJC a captured news paper to the new build.

But pretty quickly after I sent this news about non professional engineers at Vogle, the PSC disclosed there are investing my issues.

Michael Mulligan <steamshovel2002@yahoo.com>

To:businessnews@ajc.com

Nov‎ ‎1 at ‎9‎:‎52‎ ‎AM
Dear Sir,

“Stamped for failure: Westinghouse and SCANA used unlicensed workers to design abandoned S.C. nuclear reactors”

"In other SCANA news, The National Society of Professional Engineers has called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to investigate the V.C. Summer nuclear project, The Post and Courier reported. The association called for the federal agency to look into the failed construction after a revelation that Westinghouse, with complicity from SCANA, used unlicensed engineers to authorize design plans for the reactors. “Internal published documents also allege a deliberate attempt by Westinghouse attorneys to narrowly interpret South Carolina professional engineering statutes to evade generally accepted design and construction practices,” said Tom Roberts, president of the National Society of Professional Engineers."  

There is a ongoing NRC investigation at Vogtle to see if they used unlicenced workers and engineers like Summer. I made the complaint as soon as the Summer issue popped up. I got a tip from a Vogtle employee. So far the NRC admitted to me they used state non licensed engineers on the secondary systems. It is all going to key on state and NRC regulations...the expectations of the public???

Mike Mulligan
Hinsdale, NH

16032094206