What Is This?

Is it a temporary screwup or a permanent change? I am going with it is a temporary misfire for now.

Power Reactor Status Report for June 12, 2018

UNEVALUATED INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE FACILITY

On this page:

• Region 1 Reactors
• Region 2 Reactors
• Region 3 Reactors
• Region 4 Reactors

Region 1

Unit	Power

Region 2

Unit	Power

Region 3

Unit	Power

Region 4

Unit	Power

Notes:

• Reactor status data collected between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. each day.
• All times are based on eastern time.
• Additional plant status information is made available on the web page after 28 days.

 

First Time NRC's Commissioners Up To Full Strength Since 2014

First Time NRC's Commissioner Up To Full Strength Since 2014. More of the same!!! Nome of these guys have actually held a worked in a position in a nuclear plant. 

Senate confirms Caputo, Wright, and Baran to serve as US NRC commissioners

Washington (Platts)--24 May 2018 643 pm EDT/2243 GMT

The US Senate confirmed Thursday, by unanimous consent, the appointments of Annie Caputo and David Wright to serve

Dave is a corrupt South Carolina politician and no nuclear power deep experience.  Annie is owned by Exelon, basically only worked for politicians as a coffee girl. They are pathetically weak on the dirty inside work at a real nuclear plant.    

five-year terms on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and confirmed Commissioner Jeff Baran for a second five-year term.

Caputo and Wright will join Baran, Chairman Kristine Svinicki, and Commissioner Stephen Burns on the five-member commission, which now has no vacancies for the first time since then-Chairman Allison Macfarlane resigned in December 2014 to take an academic position at George Washington University.

The Senate confirmation avoids the commission losing its quorum June 30, when Baran's current term expires.

President Donald Trump nominated Caputo and Wright to the commission in May 2017 and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved their nominations in July. But a vote by the full Senate on the nominations was delayed by months, in part because Senate Democrats wanted to ensure Baran was also nominated for another term and that the three nominees were voted on as a single package. Trump nominated Baran in September.

Under the Atomic Energy Act, there can be no more than three NRC commissioners from any single political party, and they serve staggered five-year terms. Svinicki, Caputo and Wright are Republicans. Baran is a Democrat and Commissioner Stephen Burns is an independent. Burns' term ends June 30, 2019. Svinicki's term ends June 30, 2022.

Caputo, a nuclear engineer, is majority senior policy adviser for nuclear issues for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that oversees NRC. Before joining committee staff, Caputo worked as a staffer for the House of Representatives' Energy & Commerce Committee and, prior to that, she was congressional affairs manager for Exelon.

Wright is the owner of Wright Directions LLC, a strategic consulting and communications business. From March 2004

Lucky he is not in jail over the Summer nuclear fiasco? He hails from one of the most corrupt system and state oversight organizations.  

until June 2013, he served as a commissioner on the South Carolina Public Service Commission and was the PSC's chairman from July 2012 to June 2013. Wright also us former president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Wright was president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in 2011-2012. --Steven Dolley, steven.dolley@spglobal.com

Westinghouse Asked Summer To Withhold Documents To Protect The Vogtle New Build

All I can say, when is the army of FBI ants going to show up a Vogtle? You got to know, the southern company is shitting their pants over the possibility.

I thought the NRC was treating my vogtle complaint extremely strangely over Summer's non qualified engineers and fraudulent safety parts installed at Summer NRC complaint, which is identical to the as yet disclosed Vogtle non qualified engineers and installed fraudulent safety parts. I told them Summer's problem are identical to the non disclosed Vogtle problems. A honest dummy could put it together!!!      

"SCE&G misled lawmakers about critical nuclear report, state agency says"

"The Regulatory Staff filings support concerns by lawmakers that SCE&G was not truthful with elected officials."

SCE&G executives misled S.C. legislators about why a report was commissioned to investigate troubles at the failing V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project, state regulators say.

In sworn testimony to lawmakers last fall, Kevin Marsh, then chief executive of SCE&G and its parent company SCANA, told legislators the Bechtel Corp. was hired to complete a study on problems at the ill-fated project to help prepare for a possible lawsuit against Westinghouse, the project's lead contractor.

Because the report — kept secret until after the V.C. Summer project collapsed — was part of an anticipated lawsuit, it could remain confidential from regulators, legislators and the public, utility officials told legislators last fall.

However, in filings late Wednesday with the S.C. Public Service Commission, regulators at the state Office of Regulatory Staff said the Bechtel report was put together to assess what was going wrong with the construction of two new nuclear reactors northwest of Columbia, not to support a lawsuit.

"There are substantial circumstances, and previously secret communications and documents that show the owners did not hire Bechtel" in anticipation of a lawsuit against Westinghouse, Regulatory Staff said in Wednesday's filing.

Matthew Richardson, an attorney for Regulatory Staff, said in a written statement, “Documents we have discovered indicate SCE&G has been more interested in protecting its profits than the customers.''

The Regulatory Staff filings support concerns by lawmakers that SCE&G was not truthful with elected officials as they held public hearings into the failure of the massive nuclear project.

The Regulatory Staff filings are part of the agency's effort to obtain thousands of pages of SCE&G records that it says could justify cutting power bills for 700,000-plus SCE&G customers, who still are paying for the failed nuclear project. Among those records are documents related to the Bechtel report. Wednesday's filings ask the PSC to force release of SCE&G records.

“One of my biggest concerns all along was that the utilities, SCE&G and Santee Cooper, were not being completely straightforward with us,’’ said state Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield. “They were misleading us.’’

More: More secrecy at SCE&G? Utility won't give up V.C. Summer records, state agency says

State Rep. Peter McCoy, R-Charleston, said the Regulatory Staff findings reinforce concerns "that they did not want (information) getting out under any circumstances.''

Instead, SCE&G was scrambling to protect "their bottom dollar,' said McCoy, who — like Massey — was on a legislative committee that investigated the nuclear debacle.

SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower disputed criticism leveled at his company by the ORS.

"When the full story of Bechtel report is made public, it will be clear that the assertions by ORS are invalid and misleading,'' Boomhower said in an email Wednesday night. "Because of serious legal and regulatory limitations, we are not at liberty to debate these issues in the public arena at this time. We look forward to the time when the complete story will be available to everyone. ​''

In Wednesday's filings, Regulatory Staff cited a memo from the chief executive at SCE&G's junior partner in the V.C. Summer project, the state-owned Santee Cooper utility, saying the Bechtel report "never" was "intended to position (V.C. Summer's) owners for litigation."

The agency also cited another memo from Santee Cooper saying suing Westinghouse, V.C. Summer's lead contractor, would not accomplish much. That was because SCE&G and Santee Cooper had agreed they could recover no more than $150 million in a lawsuit unless they could prove fraud. When abandoned last July, the decade-long V.C. Summer expansion project already had cost far more — roughly $9 billion.

More: FBI agents flock to VC Summer site as part of probe into SC's failed nuclear project

Documents released Wednesday by Regulatory Staff indicate the Bechtel report was kept confidential at the insistence of Westinghouse. Westinghouse wanted protection from legal liability at another nuclear construction project that it was in charge of, the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion effort in Georgia, records show.

Another Problem At Dead Ender Palo Verde?

Is facility operations becoming more erratic?  

  

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53424
Facility: PALO VERDE Region: 4 State: AZ Unit: [ ] [2] [ ] RX Type: [1] CE,[2] CE,[3] CE NRC Notified By: DAVID HECKMAN HQ OPS Officer: HOWIE CROUCH	Notification Date: 05/23/2018 Notification Time: 17:37 [ET] Event Date: 05/23/2018 Event Time: 11:28 [MST] Last Update Date: 05/23/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL	Person (Organization): JASON KOZAL (R4DO)

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

AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP ON LOW DEPARTURE FROM NUCLEATE BOILING RATIO "The following event description is based on information currently available. If through subsequent reviews of this event additional information is identified that is pertinent to this event or alters the information being provided at this time a follow-up notification will be made via the ENS or under the reporting requirements of 10CFR50.73. "On May 23, 2018, at approximately 1128 Mountain Standard Time (MST), the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS) Unit 2 control room received reactor protection system alarms for low departure from nucleate boiling ratio and an automatic reactor trip occurred. Prior to the reactor trip, Unit 2 was operating normally at 100 percent power. Plant operators entered the reactor trip procedures and diagnosed an uncomplicated reactor trip. All CEAs [control element assemblies] fully inserted into the core. No emergency classification was required per the PVNGS Emergency Plan. "The Unit 2 safety-related electrical buses remained energized from normal offsite power during the event. There was no impact to the required circuits between the offsite transmission network and the onsite Class 1E Electrical Power Distribution System; the offsite power grid is stable. "No major equipment was inoperable prior to the event that contributed to the event or complicated operator response. Unit 2 is currently stable in Mode 3 with the reactor coolant system at normal operating temperature and pressure. The cause of the reactor trip is under investigation. "The event did not result in any challenges to fission product barriers and there were no adverse safety consequences as a result of this event. The event did not adversely affect the safe operation of the plant or the health and safety of the public. "The NRC Resident Inspector has been informed of the Unit 2 reactor trip." Decay is being removed via steam dumps to condenser. Units 1 and 3 at Palo Verde were unaffected by the transient and continue to operate at 100 percent power.

Welfare for Hope Creek/Salem: Well, It Is Market Collusion Between The Nukes and Solar folks

So both the nukes and greenies went to the NJ politicians for welfare. That is how they got the votes. This nuke bailout wouldn't have happened if they didn't garner the greenies votes also. The nukes are on the way to throw their greeny buddies a bone. How high do you want your electricity to go with everyone colluding their ass off. This is just going to spread to the other market players. Why compete ,when we can make more profits by everyone colluding. 

Why aren't the coal and natural gas boys and girls involved in this grand collusion...

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Legislation that would authorize $300 million annually to rescue New Jersey's nuclear energy industry — a request for financial help made by the state's largest utility company — was signed into law Wednesday.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy alongside lawmakers at a solar array in central New Jersey also signed a measure aimed at strengthening the state's renewable energy goals. The nuclear measure will be funded by ratepayers; the cost of the renewable energy legislation is unclear...

Hinsdale's Bridge Angel...I got my halo on???

Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridge in imminent state of collapse


Why does that railing keep failing....

Bridge pictures 

New post on the way. Called everyone!!!

Troubled ANO 1: Stuck At 15% For Two Days And Their Recent Scram

May 29
67% Today. Kinda  slow startup.

May 25

37%

May 24

stuck at 37%

update May 23

There you go, 37% power.

***Just saying, a lot of components failing in recent days. It is all supposed to be fixed during the outage before the startup.

FBI Agents Flock to Summer, Vogtle Next

At the end of it all, where was the NRC in heading off this tragedy. Effectively, the southern separatist states turned off the NRC. In many ways, the NRC is more lenient in the powerful republican separatist state. That is why they choose this area to build these plants.      

The FBI and the courts won't be to figure out what is going on. Neither the prosecutors or the judges have enough training to independently understand what is going on. They will be wholly dependent on the nuclear industry experts. Think about it, these nuclear experts will never work in the industry again because of blackballing. Half ass experts is what they will get. The whole lot of them has been under extremely anti government training all their careers. The so call experts won't be the cream of the crop.     

'FBI agents flock to VC Summer site as part of probe into SC's failed nuclear project' 

Avery G. Wilks, The State Published 12:36 p.m. ET May 16, 2018 | Updated 3:18 p.m. ET May 16, 2018

COLUMBIA — Up to 19 FBI agents and U.S. Department of Justice officials were in Jenkinsville last week, looking at two unfinished V.C. Summer nuclear reactors as part of an ongoing federal investigation into the failed project.

It is unclear exactly what the FBI agents — 16 to 19 of them, according to a state agency — were doing at the Fairfield County site, which SCE&G and Santee Cooper abandoned last July after nearly a decade of work that cost $9 billion.

But their presence shows the federal probe into the failed project is ongoing.

"Typically, the FBI goes to a construction site to validate ... things they have found in documents or testimony," a source familiar with legal actions surrounding SCANA, SCE&G's parent company, told The State on Tuesday. "They probably had an expert with them."

The U.S. attorney's office in South Carolina did not respond to a request for comment.

Cash Starved Southern Sells Asset, Vogtle Next

Cash-Starved Southern Sells Florida Assets to NextEra

NextEra Energy on May 21 said it would acquire several assets from Southern Co., including Southern’s ownership interest in two natural gas-fired power plants in Florida, in a deal valued at about $6.5 billion.

Southern in a statement Monday said the sale would help the company reduce debt, which has dogged Southern as its subsidiary Georgia Power continues construction of Units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. The expansion at Vogtle is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Southern CEO Tom Fanning earlier this month told company investors that the utility needed to raise cash to reduce debt, pay for the new Vogtle reactors, and boost the company’s returns. Southern’s share price on average is down more than 10% in 2018. The company laid out the details of the sale and presented a plan for its use of the equity proceeds over the next five years in a conference call Monday morning. Southern in a statement Monday said, “Proceeds from these transactions are intended to be used to reduce debt and improve Southern Company’s balance sheet.”...

Hinsdale NH: Where the Hell Is My Thanks

Just google "Mike Mulligan, Hinsdale NH-Brattleboro route 119 bridge". The Hinsdale bridge committee worked on this for decades and got nothing done. I came on the scene in and about 2012 with my "build new bridge" poster antics taped to the Hinsdale side of the

Hinsdale owes me my court fine of fine of $1500 dollars. 

bridge and within just a few years it galvanized my community into complaining to the politicians, that we are in dire need of getting it replaced. I even engineered my own arrest over loose boards on the bridge as a tool to boost public interest in the terrible conditions of the bridge. I don't give a shit about my reputation. That is the difference between me and you. I soon got the bridge walkway boards replaced in a $28,000 job and my fine for pulling up the boards was about $1500. I spent $1500 dollars and turned my wife's hair grey, in order to get a $50 million dollar bridge for my community.  

If all the players were really truthful, they would all admit my antics got them thinking of the terrible conditions of the bridge and imagining/anticipating if the bridge collapsed or the NHDOT declared it unsafe...our community would be devastated by it. I certainly thought the poor condition of bridge was severely limiting the economical growth for decades before I taped my first "build new bridge" poster to the bridge in 2013.           

"Bringing big business to the border in Hinsdale" 

By Sierra Hubbard Sentinel Staff
May 12, 20

HINSDALE — A national farming and outdoor retailer chose a border town of 4,000 residents for its second pin on the Granite State map, joining other major chain stores to settle in Hinsdale in recent years.

Runnings sells a wide variety of goods, from larger items like lawnmowers to home decor, pet products, power tools and outdoor apparel.

The store opened for business at 18 Georges Field Road in Hinsdale on April 19, but it’s celebrating a grand opening May 16 to 20. The event will stretch over several days and include product demonstrations, a petting zoo and more than $25,000 in prizes, according to Dennis A. Jensen, the company’s director of marketing and advertising.

This marks the second Runnings store in the state; one opened in Claremont three years ago. Jensen said the Hinsdale location is part of the Minnesota-based company’s expansion into the Northeast, which began in 2014 with store openings in New York, along with later additions in Claremont and Putnam, Conn. The retailer has more than 40 stores in six states.

As of the end of April, Jensen said the Hinsdale stored had hired 58 employees, half of whom are part time. He noted that many were hired locally and said more positions will be added as needed.

But the benefits of Runnings opening in town extend beyond the workforce, according to Hinsdale Selectman Mike Darcy.

“It is filling in a previously vacant storefront, which is nice because the building’s not just sitting there rotting ... ,” Darcy said. “It’s going to get the care and maintenance that it deserves.”

The building housed a Walmart until it moved out in 2011 to open a larger supercenter 3 miles away.

Jensen said the location was ideal, but not solely because of the physical space. He said the company looks specifically for customers with lifestyles that fit the profile of a Runnings shopper, which encompasses a love for pets, the outdoors, hobbies and working with one’s hands.

“We will not open a store if we don’t feel like there’s a demand for what we’re trying to sell,” Jensen said. “When we looked in the area, there really was that need we felt that we could meet with the store.”

But Runnings isn’t the only big-box company to take root in Hinsdale. In 2013, Tractor Supply Co. built a store on Brattleboro Road, also called Route 119. Based in Brentwood, Tenn., Tractor Supply operates 21 stores in New Hampshire, according to its website.

Walmart, which came to Georges Field Road in 1993, opened its supercenter in April 2011, also on Brattleboro Road.

Darcy said the town of about 4,000 people is prime real estate for national chains and larger companies.

“We’re right at the meeting of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts,” he said.

It’s an attractive location because the Granite State has no sales tax, he said, unlike its neighbors.

State Sen. Jay V. Kahn, D-Keene, represents District 10, which includes Hinsdale. Because of the tax incentive and proximity, he said residents have a close relationship with cross-border towns.

“What you find in Hinsdale is that the state border is very fluid,” Kahn said. “People in Hinsdale work in Brattleboro, Vermont, and vice versa.”

Businesses in Hinsdale, he said, have the advantage of access to pools of residents from several area towns, including those in nearby states. Kahn said this advantage applies to both workforce and customer base.

And officials with the town are planning more improvements to an area that’s already appealing to outside companies.

“If you look just a few years out, the Hinsdale bridge will be replaced, which will facilitate even more traffic,” Kahn said.

Two bridges connect the town to Brattleboro over the Connecticut River, both Pennsylvania truss-style spans built in 1920 and rehabilitated in 1988. Officials with the N.H. Department of Transportation classify the narrow bridges as functionally obsolete, which means the outdated structures don’t meet current design standards and have height and weight restrictions.

Hinsdale has worked for decades to replace the bridges, and state highway officials held public hearings in January outlining plans to build a new span across the border. Construction is expected to begin spring 2020 and continue into 2023, according to state officials.

“If there’s going to be any large retail or any large commercial expansion in Hinsdale, the new bridge will play a big role in that,” Darcy said, adding that it will offer travelers better access to Interstate 91.

Phil Suter, president and CEO of the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce, said efforts to replace the bridges are part of attempts by town officials to make Hinsdale more attractive to businesses.

Suter said the communities along the border have struggled since the sale of Vermont Yankee, a prominent nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt., that employed as many as 650 people in its prime.

Built in 1972, the plant’s owner announced in 2013 that the facility planned to shut down its reactor by the end of 2014. The sale and transfer of the plant’s spent nuclear fuel to dry-cask storage is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

When the facility’s owner made the announcement, Vernon and the surrounding communities suddenly faced what many towns across the country have encountered as nuclear power plants cease their operations: Residents and families with high incomes packed up and left.

“That cost the area a number of jobs,” Suter said, noting that many were higher skilled positions. “... Anything that comes back into that area is good. It’s good for the tax base; it’s good for the real estate market.”

And in a region that emphasizes the importance of supporting local businesses, Suter quelled concerns about big-box retailers moving in and said there’s room for businesses of all sizes. Ultimately, he said the residents will choose the establishments that are fair, have good customer service and take part in the community.

“People will vote with their dollars,” Suter said. “They’ll vote with their feet.”

With the potential to generate jobs, revenue and maybe even new residents in Hinsdale, Suter said it’s a “really big deal” that the company chose the town for its second location in New Hampshire.

“This opening of this store, Runnings, is a really big deal,” Suter said. “They don’t casually open a store like that if they don’t think there’s a market for what they do.”

Troubled Columbia: Unstable SRV Design, Again

Update

Actually, there is little SRV LERs here. I find this suspicious. Why do we have tons of SRV LERs at plants I identified on my blog(Hatch, Pilgrim Hope...), while almost none at Columbia???

What is wrong with this picture? Columbia doesn't have a single SRV LER. Are they not reporting failures?

05000397

A transformer breakdown and a SRV problem is not a good thing at the same time? I haven't seen many LERs with SRV issues at Columbia?

Training troubles

On December 28, 2017, the licensee informed the inspector of the following operating test results:

• 5 of 6 crews passed the simulator portion of the operating test

• 50 of 57 licensed operators passed the simulator portion of the operating test

• 56 of 57 licensed operators passed the job performance measure portion of the operating test 

Actually, this plant is owned by the US government.

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53410
Facility: COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION Region: 4 State: WA Unit: [2] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [2] GE-5 NRC Notified By: SEAN KEEHN HQ OPS Officer: STEVEN VITTO	Notification Date: 05/18/2018 Notification Time: 13:27 [ET] Event Date: 05/18/2018 Event Time: 06:51 [PDT] Last Update Date: 05/18/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL	Person (Organization): HEATHER GEPFORD (R4DO) JEFFERY GRANT (IRD) MICHAEL F. KING (NRR)

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

Event Text

AUTOMATIC REACTOR SCRAM CAUSED BY MAIN TRANSFORMER TRIP "At 0651 [PDT] on May 18th, 2018, Columbia Generating station experienced a Main Transformer trip, that caused a Reactor Scram. Reactor Power, Pressure and Level were maintained as expected for this condition. MS-RV-1A (Safety Relief Valve) and MS-RV-1B (Safety Relief Valve) opened on reactor high pressure during the initial transient. MS-RV-1B appeared to remain open after pressure lowered below the reset point. The operating crew removed power supply fuses for MS-RV-1B and it currently indicates intermediate position. SRV (Safety Relief Valve) tail pipe temperatures indicate all valves are closed. Suppression pool level and temperature have remained steady within normal operating levels. "All control rods inserted and reactor power is being maintained subcritical. "RPV (Reactor Pressure Vessel) water level is being maintained with condensate and feed system with startup flow control valves in automatic. Reactor Pressure is being maintained with the Turbine Bypass valves controlling in automatic. The main condenser is the heat sink. "No ECCS (Emergency Core Cooling Systems) systems actuated or injected; the EOC-RPT (End of Cycle-Recirculation Pump Trip) and RPS (Reactor Protection System) systems actuated causing a trip of the RRC pumps and a reactor scram. "Core recirculation is being maintained with RRC-P-1A (Reactor Recirculation Pump) running. "No release has occurred. "At this time there will be no notifications to state, local or other public agencies. "The NRC Senior Resident has been notified. "The cause of the event is currently under investigation. Plant conditions are stable." The plant is in its normal electrical alignment and offsite power is available to the site.