NRC Answers Me About Concerns With Hope Creeks SRVs, AGAIN

Update

Mike Mulligan <steamshovel2002@gmail.com>	Sep 29 (1 day ago)
to R1ALLEGATION

Nicole,

So my comment about insulation revolves around how cavalier the NRC treats the insulation issue in this sentence. I have no information about SRV insulation issues at Hope Creek. It's not safety related, but some vague consideration is given.

"Some parts are classified as PC3 (e.g. piping and valve insulation), which means they are not safety-related, but quality consideration is given."

The big picture is, why are there so many recent issues with Target Rock SRV valves? Why can't the NRC and the licensees get a handle on these performance issue? The Industry are notorious with flip flopping between stage 2 and stage 3 valves. A plant may have issues with performance and leakage with the stage 2. They go to the stage 3. The problems are worst in the stage 3. Then they go back to the  stage 2. And on and on and on. This constitutes really experimentation.

The road blocks to fixing this so call performance issues are notorious. The example with HC is they finally publically admit the plant has set point drift performance issues. Actually it is drastically worsening in the last decade. One half ass fix after another, after the new fix, the performance issues just worsens. They begin discussions with Areva for replacements. Nothing comes out of it. Now HC decides to save their ass by going with the questionable stage 3, but a new quality issues shows up delaying the replacements. Why is the supply chain for SRVs and their component so brittle?          

Why is there one excuse after another, but it never gets fixed. I get you guys are blindly following the rules. So following the rules is solely the objective here, not getting things fixed.  

These guys are cycled extremely infrequently and no environmental stress around them. One only wonders what would happen in a accident. God help us all if you are treating the millions of components and parts like this in the plant

Excepts with Most recent LER

Supplemental Licensee Event Report (LER) Number 2016-003-01,"As-Found Values for Safety Relief Valve Lift Set Points Exceed Technical Specification Allowable Limit."

On October 22, 2016, Hope Creek Generating Station (HCGS) received results that the 'as-found' set-point tests for safety relief valve (SRV) pilot stage assemblies had exceeded the lift setting tolerance prescribed in Technical Specification (TS) 3.4.2.1. The TS requires the SRV lift settings to be within +/- 3% of the nominal set-point value. During the twentieth refueling outage (H1 R20), all fourteen SRV pilot stage assemblies were removed for testing at an offsite facility. Between October 22 and October 28, 2016, HCGS received the test results for all fourteen of the SRV pilot valve assemblies. A total of ten of the fourteen SRV pilot stage assemblies experienced set-point drift outside of the TS 3.4.2.1 specified values. All of the valves failing to meet the limits were Target Rock Model 7567F two-stage SRVs. This is a condition reportable under 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(i)(B) as an Operation or Condition Prohibited by Technical Specifications.

The cause of the set-point drift for the ten SRV pilot stage assemblies is attributed to corrosion bonding between the pilot disc and seating surfaces, which is consistent with industry experience. This conclusion is based on previous cause evaluations and the repetitive nature of this condition at HCGS and within the BWR industry.

Two technical evaluations were performed to assess the aggregate safety-significance of the 10 SRVs with out of tolerance initial lift set-points and determine whether the condition would have had an adverse effect on the safety function of the valves or other affected systems, structures and components (SSCs). One technical evaluation looked at 1) the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) over-pressure design function of the valves; 2) the impact of higher relief setpoints on other safety systems (i.e., HPCI, RCIC, and SLC); and 3) fuels considerations. The second technical evaluation looked at stress related issues (down-comer piping, supports, spargers, and torus loads).

The evaluations concluded that the as-found condition was bounded by margins which exist in current Hope Creek design analyses; thus, the aggregate effect of this condition has no Safety Significance. In all cases, the RCS would have remained within allowable limits, and safety-related systems relied upon during high-pressure events (HPCI, RCIC and SLC) would have functioned sufficiently in accordance with the station's design bases had an accident or limiting transient occurred during Cycle 20. Fuel limits were no adversely affected by this condition.

***You see the historic trajectory going on here with these defective valves. The pressure setpoint drift was originally plus or minus 1%. The design commitment reliability was never met in these defective valves. The fix with the excessive pressure setpoint drift was to jack the inaccuracy to plus or minus 3%. As with a bunch of electro plating coatings on the pilot disc and seat that never fixed the problem. The rate of drift went up to unbelievable levels. Cooper is required to have 7 of 8 SRV operable if within plus or minus 3%. They are trying to reduce it to be 5 of 8 SRV operable or be shutdown. You got to know this is a test case. The rest of the industry wants to get this way. 

I was led to believe the PI&G inspection was a result of me.

Sept 27 R1ALLIGATION RESOURCE  To me

 Mr. Mulligan, the attached letter responds to three concerns you raised to the NRC regarding the Hope Creek SRVs. As discussed in the letter, the NRC recently conducted a PI&R inspection at Hope Creek that addressed various aspects of SRV maintenance and operation, in addition to your three concerns. The results of the PI&R sample will be

The NRC is signaling me pretty seriously they want me to see this this next PI&R documented in an upcoming inspection report.

Please confirm receipt. Sincerely, Nicole Warnek Sr. Allegation Coordinator 610-337-5222 (Region I Safety Hotline) 800-432-1156 x5222 (Hotline, Toll Free) U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I 2100 Renaissance Blvd, Suite 100 King of Prussia, PA 19406 I will pass your question about insulation along to Steve Pindale (who as you know conducted the most recent SRV inspection.) As for your second request, the text is below. Sincerely, Nicole Warnek Sr. Allegation Coordinator 610-337-5222 (Region I Safety Hotline) 800-432-1156 x5222 (Hotline, Toll Free) RI-2017-A-0028 Mike Mulligan                                                                                              steamshovel2002@gmail.com    SUBJECT:  Concerns You Raised to the NRC Regarding Hope Creek Dear Mr. Mulligan: The NRC Region I Office has completed its follow up in response to the concerns that you brought to our attention on May 2 and 3, 2017, regarding Hope Creek.  Your concerns were related to the safety relief valves.  Enclosure 1 to this letter restates your concerns and describes our review and conclusions regarding each concern.  Thank you for informing us of your concerns.  Allegations are an important source of information in support of the NRC’s safety mission, and we take our safety responsibility to the public seriously within the bounds of our lawful authority.  If you have any questions or if the NRC can be of further assistance in this matter, please call us toll-free via the NRC Region I Safety Hotline at 1-800-432-1156, extension 5222, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, or contact me in writing at 2100 Renaissance Blvd, Suite 100, King of Prussia, PA, 19406. Sincerely, Nicole S. Warnek Senior Allegation Coordinator Enclosure:  As stated Concern 1: You asserted that there are commercial grade dedication problems concerning the Safety Relief Valves (SRVs) at Hope Creek. Response to Concern 1: NRC Assessment In July 2017 the NRC conducted a problem identification and resolution (PI&R) inspection sample focused on the SRVs at Hope Creek.  As part of this inspection, the inspector questioned Hope Creek staff regarding the use of non-Target Rock parts in the SRVs and associated solenoid valves and if any commercial grade dedicated parts were used.  PSEG staff indicated that they do not do commercial grade dedications (purchase class 2, or PC2) for SRV parts.  SRV parts that are safety-related are I am not sure what having commercial grade dedicated parts mean. It seem to me Target Rock basically doesn't make safety grade SRVs. A vender then upgrades the valves into safety related grade. They then sell it to HC. It the old days Target Rock would make safety grade. Accountability here is balkanized. You know, too many safety grades really translates into no safety grade. procured as PC1, which means they come qualified from an approved vendor.  Some parts are classified as PC3 (e.g. piping and valve insulation), which means they are not safety-related, but quality consideration is given.  The PC3 parts have augmented quality requirements, which are primarily vendor supplied and documentation is typically a certificate of conformance.  Finally, there are some items that are procured as non-safety related (PC4), such as gaskets, washers, and lubricants. The NRC inspectors reviewed the list of Hope Creek’s SRV PC4 parts and independently verified that these parts do not perform a safety function.  They are non-pressure retaining, non-load bearing, and do not have an active function.  Once they are properly installed, they have no credible failure mode that would impact the ability of the SRV to perform its safety function to maintain and relieve pressure.  Therefore, they are not required to undergo a commercial grade dedication process. NRC Conclusion Based on the results of our inspection, the NRC could not substantiate your concern that there are commercial grade dedication problems concerning the SRVs at Hope Creek. Concern 2: You asserted that there are Part 21 problems with the SRVs at Hope Creek. Response to Concern 2: NRC Assessment During the NRC PI&R inspection conducted in July 2017, the inspector noted that the Hope Creek staff were aware of the Part 21 issue associated with the 3-stage Target Rock SRVs.  As a result of the Part 21, PSEG had postponed the installation of a planned modification to use one or more 3-stage Target Rock SRVs at Hope Creek, pending resolution of the issues documented in the Part 21 report (i.e., Curtiss Wright Flow Control Co. – Target Rock Division; EN 50900, dated 3/17/15, and updated on 5/1/15, 6/30/15 and 2/3/17). These Part 21 Curtiss Wright reports and updates are associated with the Pilgrim 2015 SRV failures. Can you even believe how long it takes to understand and correct SRV failures. So the 2015 pilgrim SRV failure are preventing Hope Creek from installing their 3 stage SRVs.   NRC Conclusion Based on the results of our inspection, the NRC confirmed that a Part 21 report regarding 3-stage Target Rock valves (EN 50900) was evaluated for applicability at Hope Creek.  The NRC did not identify any inadequacy or impropriety associated with Hope Creek’s handling of this Part 21; therefore, your concern was not substantiated. Concern 3: You asserted that the SRVs at Hope Creek are in worse shape than the NRC knows.  Response to Concern 3: NRC Assessment The NRC maintains awareness of plant operating and equipment issues through NRC resident inspectors who report each work day to the Hope Creek station.  Additionally, specialist inspectors from the NRC’s Region I Office have conducted periodic focused inspections of PSEG’s performance to test and maintain SRVs over the years.  The last inspection report that documented NRC’s reviews and conclusions in this regard was NRC inspection report 05000354/2016001, Section 4OA2, dated May 10, 2016 (ML16131A095).  We expect that the results of our most recent inspection on this topic (the July 2017 PI&R sample) will be documented in an NRC integrated inspection report 05000354/2017003, due to be issued no later than November 14, 2017.  This report will be publicly available on the NRC website once it is issued, at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/listofrpts-body.html. NRC Conclusion Based on the results of our July 2017 onsite inspection, as well as previous inspections performed in this area, the NRC concluded that we are knowledgeable of the condition of the SRVs installed at Hope Creek, including the challenges the station has faced with maintaining the SRVs.  As such, we did not substantiate your concern that the SRVs at Hope Creek are in worse shape than the NRC knows. From: Mike Mulligan [mailto:steamshovel2002@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2017 10:06 AM To: R1ALLEGATION RESOURCE <R1ALLEGATION.RESOURCE@nrc.gov> Subject: [External_Sender] Re: Concerns You Raised to the NRC Regarding Hope Creek (RI-2017-A-0028) Nicole, I no longer communicate with the individual who gave me this information. I don't trust him. I see the NRC says the SRV insulation isn't safety related. I find this assertion ridiculous. So insulation has never been involved in the deterioration with the operability of the SRVS? I remember seeing many insulation issues with SRV LERs and inspection reports effecting component reliability. I remember my 2.206 concerning VY's actuator seals. Basically the valves weren't qualified for their environment. I believe the type I, type II component environmental mixup is in a VY inspection report.  Anyway, I thank the NRC for this report Could you send me a non photocopy copy of this document. I just want to copy and paste this document to my blog.  Mike On Wed, Sep 27, 2017 at 9:35 AM, R1ALLEGATION RESOURCE < R1ALLEGATION.RESOURCE@nrc.gov> wrote: Mr. Mulligan, the attached letter responds to three concerns you raised to the NRC regarding the Hope Creek SRVs. As discussed in the letter, the NRC recently conducted a PI&R inspection at Hope Creek that addressed various aspects of SRV maintenance and operation, in addition to your three concerns. The results of the PI&R sample will be documented in an upcoming inspection report. Please confirm receipt. Sincerely, Nicole Warnek Sr. Allegation Coordinator 610-337-5222 (Region I Safety Hotline) 800-432-1156 x5222 (Hotline, Toll Free) U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I 2100 Renaissance Blvd, Suite 100 King of Prussia, PA 19406 Mike Mulligan <steamshovel2002@gmail.com> 1:35 PM (1 hour ago) Nicole,  Thank you for everything you do. Just saying, I hope the PI&R inspection is congruent with SRV inspection report answering my concerns of a few years ago. I could get you the IR number if the NRC needs it.

Palisades: Dumb Idea

For a nuclear plant to operate properly they need a secure and reliable source of funding. These guys are throttling money to this plant thinking within a few years it will be shutdown. They were never designed for this kind of funding. I think Entergy is prioritizing resources going into their plants. This guy would be on the bottom of the list with prioritization.

Do you think this was a result of the Trump election.  

Entergy to continue operating Palisades nuclear power plant until Spring 2022

September 28, 2017

By PennEnergy Editorial Staff

Source: Entergy

 Entergy Corporation plans to operate Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, until the spring of 2022, under the existing Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Consumers Energy.

“In light of the Michigan Public Service Commission’s order issued September 22, which granted Consumers Energy recovery of only $136.6 million of the $172 million it requested for the buyout of the PPA, the parties have agreed to terminate the buyout transaction,” said Charlie Arnone, site vice president and Entergy’s top official at Palisades.

[Native Advertisement]

This announcement reverses Entergy’s December 2016 decision to close Palisades on October 1, 2018, but Entergy remains committed to its strategy of exiting the merchant nuclear power business.

The impact of the decision on free cash flow is expected to be positive $100 million to $150 million compared to the PPA amendment with Consumers Energy. In addition, due to the change in operating assumptions, under applicable accounting rules we no longer expect fuel, refueling outage costs and capital expenditures to be expensed as incurred. Instead, these expenditures will be amortized or depreciated over their useful lives and the expense will be included in operational results.

This is the Southern Company and Voglte 3 and 4 in a year

So basically the licensees have total control of site information as long as the money keeps flowing. Then the truth comes out when the money stops. These are basically very complication business, political and public events. This reminds of cascaded event. It eventually totally overwhelms the executives and regulators of  all styles. This will be Vogtle in a year. Remember how the Southern company has handled their clean coal plant failure. I just think the whole lot of them is riddled with corruption. Nobody is ethical and the laws have been weakened over the decades, they just enforce even the weak laws.

The failure of Summer is drawing massive attention and transparency forces into these unprecedented event. The times that we live under is highly unstable. There is just too much black and white thinking. Forces will turn on you in a dime when the money stops flowing. It is going to upend the politics in Southern Carolina and seriously threaten the business theology in the south.  

This will be the Vogtle and Southern Company in a year. The cascading event will shock you for years on end.

The theme here across the nation are the utilities are trying to put on the grid the most expensive electricity they can think of to mitigate the depressionary forces of cheap natural gas.

SCANA’s future cloudy as furor over failed nuclear plant intensifies

By SAMMY FRETWELL

September 27, 2017 8:19 PM

Reeling from its failure to complete two nuclear reactors, Cayce-based SCANA is on the ropes, struggling to survive as the only major investor-owned power company headquartered in South Carolina.

Angry ratepayers are filing lawsuits, federal and state agencies are investigating, and politicians are promising to bar the utility from getting any more money from customers to pay for the bungled V.C. Summer reactor project, northwest of Columbia.

The state Office of Regulatory Staff also took steps Tuesday that could force SCANA to repay up to $1.7 billion that it has collected from customers for the project. The agency takes its case Thursday to the state Public Service Commission.

Once a pillar of Columbia’s business community, questions now are being raised about whether SCANA will be forced to file for bankruptcy or if a larger, out-of-state utility will seek to acquire SCE&G’s parent company.

SCANA’s troubles have sent its stock price plummeting to its lowest point in months — closing at $51.22 a share Wednesday, down from $75 in early summer.

Some state lawmakers say they want to see SCANA remain a S.C.-headquartered business. But they also are incensed over the nuclear reactor project’s failure.

“There has been a lot of concern about this and does it hurt South Carolina to lose its only investor-owned utility,’’ said state Rep. James, Smith, D-Richland. “However, the utility is reaping what they have sown.’’

Smith, a member of a House committee investigating the nuclear project’s failure, said “accountability is essential.’’

‘A much harsher stand’

SCANA and its junior partner, the state-owned Santee Cooper utility, shut down the two-reactor project they were building July 31.

The bankruptcy of chief contractor Westinghouse was a major reason the project could not be finished, the utilities said, adding the project had become too expensive and was not needed, as energy demand leveled off.

By then, however, the companies had spent $9 billion on the project and raised their customers’ rates 14 times to pay for the work.

Securities analysts interviewed by The State said they doubt SCANA, a relatively small utility, would be an attractive target for a bigger utility to buy — at least now. There is too much uncertainty surrounding the company, they said.

Neil Kalton, with Wells Fargo Securities, said a key drawback for SCANA is the lack of clarity over whether the company will be able to recoup its costs associated with the nuclear plant. The company previously had said it wanted up to $2.2 billion from ratepayers to help offset the costs of the failed plant.

“Really, this whole cost-recovery issue needs to be resolved before (other) parties might come in,’’ Kalton said of SCANA’s attractiveness as a takeover target.

Bankruptcy would grant SCANA relief from lawsuits by ratepayers and stockholders seeking damages, while giving it time to reorganize, said Elliott, who represents the S.C. Energy Users Committee, a group of industries that use large amounts of electricity.

Should a larger utility acquire SCANA and stabilize electricity rates, it could be a win for customers, some legislators say.

North Carolina’s Duke Energy, Dominion Energy of Virginia and the Southern Co. of Georgia have been mentioned as possible suitors.

“Duke has been a good operator in South Carolina,’’ said state Sen. Greg Gregory, R-Lancaster. “They would be capable of taking over SCE&G and running it.’’

State Rep. Kirkman Finlay, R-Richland, said providing customers with more affordable power rates and less devotion to stockholders would cure a lot of SCANA’s ills.

“Their lineman are getting screamed at, their employees are getting screamed at, and they had nothing to do with this,’’ Finlay said. “We need somebody who can come in there, cut costs, save the company and restore its credibility.’’

Attorney says Gov. McMaster considering him to help run Santee Cooper

Columbia attorney Steve Hamm said Wednesday that Gov. Henry McMaster contacted him several weeks ago about whether Hamm would help out with Santee Cooper’s leadership.

Hamm, executive director of the S.C. Ethics Commission, said the governor has not extended a formal offer. But Hamm said he would consider an offer.

“This is not something that I have sought,” said Hamm, who once was the state’s longtime consumer advocate, sometimes arguing electric rate cases.

Santee Cooper’s current chief executive, Lonnie Carter, announced last month he will retire early next year.

The state-owned Santee Cooper utility was the junior partner with SCANA in the aborted attempt to build two nuclear power plants in Fairfield County.

Santee Cooper is managed by a board of directors whose members are appointed by the governor — who has said he wants to sell the utility — with the consent of the state Senate. The board chooses the CEO.

Hamm said he would take the job without any preconditions. “I don’t have any marching orders.”

Before recommending any action, Hamm said, he would want to work with experts to study Santee Cooper’s obligations and debt.

Junk Plant River Bend: Power Has Been Jumping Around Like A Grasshopper For Last 6 Days

Where did Grand Gulf go?

Vogtle At The Precipice

Imagine if the non licensed engineer is big here?

The good news for backers of Plant Vogtle’s expanded nuclear capacity  

By Jim Galloway

September 26, 2017

| Filed in: Elections - Local and Region, Georgia Legislature, Georgia Power, Johnny Isakson

Plant Vogtle construction site in 2016. Johnny Edwards, jedwards@ajc.com

Last week, a small but influential online magazine that follows energy and environmental issues noted a slight shift in the Washington pecking order.

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has been placed in charge of the survival of nuclear energy in the United States, E&E Daily reported. Isakson inherits the informal position from his Senate colleagues in South Carolina, where utilities decided to abandon the construction of two nuclear reactors.

The cancellation leaves just two new nuclear units being built in the United States — both a part of the Plant Vogtle expansion in east Georgia.

“We’re kind of the last of the Indians here, with South Carolina dropping out,” Isakson said via telephone this week. “We’re not only the lead dog – we’re the only dog.”

If you follow Georgia politics, you’re probably aware of the two election cycles currently in play. Leadership contests in Georgia cities will resolve themselves in November or, as is likely in Atlanta mayor’s race, with a December runoff.

Then there’s the 2018 race for governor and other state elections. A first culling will come with the May primaries.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R – Ga. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

But there’s a third campaign in between – the fight over Georgia Power’s decision to continue the construction of two new nuclear reactors. The Vogtle expansion was already more than three years behind schedule and $3 billion over budget when its key contractor, Westinghouse Electric, filed bankruptcy in March.

The campaign to save the Vogtle expansion — or kill it — has two legs. The state Public Service Commission voted last week to begin a review of Georgia Power’s plan to keep going that will culminate with an up-or-down vote in February.

Georgia Power presents its case in November. Opponents have their say in December.

Then there’s the fight in D.C. that Isakson now has charge of, which is likely to play out in the final days of 2017.

Georgia Power and other sponsors of the Vogtle expansion are eligible for an $800 million tax credit if the reactors are up and operating by Jan. 1, 2021.

The tax credit is essential to making the expansion economically viable. But hope of meeting that deadline has dried up. Georgia Power says the new reactors will be operational by late 2022, at a cost of $28 billion — about double the original estimate.

Isakson said he’s likely to tack an extension for the nuclear energy tax credit to “catch-all” legislation in late December, perhaps coupled with tax breaks targeted for wind, solar or biomass interests.

“There are plenty of opportunities. There are also plenty of folks who have an interest in tax credits in the Senate who will need help getting theirs through,’ Isakson said. “I know who they are and where some of them live.”

Isakson’s new role as a protector of nuclear power has an element of karma. In the early 1980s, at the beginning of his political career and when he first became the House minority leader in the state Capitol, Isakson was a key supporter of legislation that allowed the first nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle to be built.

So it’s no surprise that, like Gov. Nathan Deal, Isakson is giving full-throated support to Georgia Power’s decision to persevere. “To let what’s been done go to the wayside would be a tremendous injustice for our people,” Isakson said.

The political hazard is ratepayer resentment. Georgia Power customers have paid roughly $4 billion in surcharges to cover financing costs associated with Plant Vogtle — an advance payment made possible in 2009 by the Legislature.

All five members of the PSC are Republican. Two members, Chairman Stan Wise and Chuck Eaton, are up for re-election in November 2018.

But advocates for continuing construction of the two new Vogtle reactors got some good news on Monday.

Over the last few months, utilities with aging nuclear reactors in several states – Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey included — have found themselves under increased economic pressure from cheap natural gas, and have sought direct state subsidies.

In each case, environmentalists and consumer advocates have voiced concern, but it has been the American Petroleum Institute, a trade organization that also represents the fracking industry, that has largely financed the opposition.

PSC Chairman Wise said he’s been told the API does not plan to participate in the debate over Vogtle — which means that opponents of the Vogtle expansion will have to look elsewhere for cash.

Another development has also emerged over the last few months that could bode well for Vogtle supporters. We’ve seen Democrats attempt to nationalize the Sixth District congressional contest in Georgia. Democrat Stacey Abrams aims to do the same in next year’s gubernatorial contest.

Plant Vogtle supporters are following suit. They’re not abandoning their arguments for cheap, locally produced energy, but they’re also invoking the name of Vladimir Putin.

Keeping up this country’s nuclear expertise is essential to blocking the spread of nuclear weapons, argues Michael Shellenberger, co-founder of Breakthrough Institute, a think tank that focuses on environmental issues. He supports the expansion of nuclear power as an answer to climate change, but has also begun to argue that U.S. influence abroad is at stake, too.

“The United States has been really the leader and pioneer of creating teams and human infrastructure – nuclear cops at the [International Energy Agency] and elsewhere — to prevent any diversion of materials for weapons,” Shellenberger said.

“Nuclear energy isn’t going anywhere,” he said. “The Russians and the Chinese are going to dominate that market. So then it becomes a question of how concerned are you that the Russians and Chinese will be as effective as the United States has been in preventing the spread of weapons.”

At least one PSC member, Tim Echols, has echoed these sentiments. And Isakson said the national security argument is giving him additional traction in Washington.

Nuclear expertise, he said, is devolving on “Russia, China and a lot of other people who aren’t our friends.

“All the nuclear component parts – all the stuff is built in Japan and other places around the world. They’re not built in the United States,” Isakson said.

And that, friends, is the unfinished tale of an American nuclear renaissance that is close to going bust.

Licensed Engineers Optional At The Failed Summer Facility

Is it a NRC requirement?

Failing the 'prudent' test

On Sunday, The Post and Courier reported that not only had SCANA used unlicensed engineers to draw up hundreds of constantly-revised and sometimes impossible-to-build plans, but that in doing so the utility and its lead contractor Westinghouse might have violated state law.

South Carolina requires that drawings for large construction projects be stamped and signed by a licensed engineer. The law is designed to protect the public from potential hazards by ensuring that top professionals provide oversight to major works.
Obviously, the risks posed by nuclear reactors are significant, making that oversight even more critical.
And yet, SCANA and Westinghouse appear to have proceeded through years of construction — and constant delays, revisions and cost overruns — in disregard of those rules.,,

North Korea: Declaration of War on USA

I am surprised they haven't started shooting yet.

North Korea Says It Has the Right to Shoot Down U.S. Warplanes

By RICK GLADSTONESEPT. 25, 2017

North Korea’s foreign minister escalated tensions with the United States on Monday, saying that President Trump’s threatening comments about the country and its leadership were “a declaration of war” and that North Korea had the right to shoot down American warplanes, even if they are not in North Korean air space.

“The whole world should clearly remember it was the U.S. who first declared war on our country,” the foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told reporters as he was leaving the United Nations after a week of General Assembly meetings in New York.

“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country,” he said...

The Highly Suspicious High Altitude ICBM Test

Update Sept 2

I predicted it on 9/25. The implication of a successful test is mind boggling. This guy is a dead man and he knows it. As I said earlier, this guy is on the road to suicide.

It will knock out a lot of satellites if it is a high altitude burst.

CNN: North Korea could test a powerful nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean in response to US President Donald Trump's threats of military action, the country's foreign minister has warned.

Ri Yong Ho spoke to reporters in New York shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an unprecedented televised statement, accusing Trump of being "mentally deranged."

Originally published 9/25

OK, the setup. We proactively destroy the coastal ICBM, then they launch the doomsday ICBM from a secret interior site? 

Damn, these low probability and high consequence events, and increasingly becoming probable. It is now in the realm of doable. The mother of all black swan events.

They won't need any reentry technology...

Hmm, what about those extremely hypersonic experimental missiles we got. It could get to NKorea in a few ten minutes or so.

Scenario: How about the North Koreans detonating a hydrogen bomb/EMP in a inhabitable part of the pacific with insignificant damage. How will the world respond? Maybe a simultaneous invasion of Soul?

Will a high altitude hydrogen detonation, or set of detonations, destroy or destabilize our magnetic fields or ionosphere??? Do we got any surprises underneath this?

Could they knock out the space station? Yes, from a long way away. It would be a slow and gruesome deaths.  

It is a widespread satellite killer!!!

Honestly, North Korea is mostly not electrified. A EMP won't hurt them, especially with prior notification.

A large percentage of our nuclear plants melting down.

Think about it, we would lose a tremendous amount US wealth and our financial system would immediately freeze up. It would be a financial catastrophe for the whole world. 

I feel like now I am on the tv series the "Last Ship"? 


Honestly, we can't allow them to launch another missile!!! 

North Korea has conducted a new intercontinental ballistic missile test, South Korea and the Pentagon say.

The missile reached an altitude of about 3,000km (1,865 miles) and landed in the sea off Japan, the Japanese national broadcaster NHK said.

It comes three weeks after North Korea's first ICBM test.

In response, the US and South Korean military conducted a live-firing exercise using surface-to-surface missiles, a US defence official said.

The missiles were fired into the "territorial waters of South Korea along the east coast," a US military statement said.

The latest North Korean missile flew higher, further and for longer than the one in early July. Its launch has been condemned by a number of countries.

The test - the 14th carried out by North Korea in 2017 - is the latest to be conducted in defiance of a UN ban.

US President Donald Trump called it "only the latest reckless and dangerous action by the North Korean regime".

Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said that initial indications showed the latest missile had a range of about 10,000km - far enough to strike the west coast of the United States and beyond.

The Washington Post reported that Denver and possibly Chicago could now be in North Korea's range.

Here is the doomsday site. Want they are really telegraphing to us is they can launch the doomday missile from anywhere they want. Launching it in darkness? Lets see, it nighttime in Nkorean, and daylight in the USA.

The latest missile was launched at 23:41 (15:41 GMT) from an arms plant in Jagang province in the north of the country, the Pentagon said.

It is unusual for North Korea to launch a missile at night - the significance is as yet unclear. No missiles had been fired from Jagang province before, indicating a previously-unknown launch site is operational.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile flew for about 45 minutes - some six minutes longer than the ICBM tested in early July…

Asymmetric Weapon: North Korea's Hydrogen EMP Bomb Has Already Cost Us Many 100s of Millions of Dollars

 

It is a Pearl Harbor Attack.

Dollar hits 10-month lows below ¥108 in Torokyo

The dollar dived below ¥108 for the first time in about 10 months in Tokyo trading on Friday, as a risk-averse mood grew amid heightened worries about the possibility of North Korea firing a ballistic missile, or conducting other provocations, on Saturday, the anniversary of the reclusive nation’s founding.

At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥107.73-74, down from ¥108.99-109.00 at the same time Thursday. The euro was at $1.2048-1.2049, up from $1.1954-1.1954, and at ¥129.81-82, down from ¥130.30-30.

The dollar was weak around ¥108.30 in early trading in the wake of an overnight tumble of the key U.S. long-term interest rate on concerns over Hurricane Irma’s possible devastation on the U.S. economy and the European Central Bank’s downward revision in its inflation forecasts on Thursday.

Threat of North Korean EMP attack leaves Japan vulnerable

Pyongyang claims ability to trigger high-altitude electromagnetic pulse

by Reiji Yoshida

Staff Writer

The North Korean nuclear crisis has fueled global concern over how much time is left before Pyongyang masters the technology required to miniaturize nuclear warheads and make the re-entry vehicles needed to deliver them on target.

But a Sept. 3 announcement by the reclusive state raised fears of another kind of attack that completely bypasses those hurdles: an electromagnetic pulse.

In Sunday’s announcement, Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and said it had the ability to detonate one at high altitude to generate an EMP — an electromagnetic wave that would fry electronic devices and disrupt communications for hundreds of kilometers around.

A nuclear device detonated 30 km to 400 km above ground could disrupt nearly all types of electronics within range, including computers, power grids and communication systems, experts say. Recovery could take years.

“The electromagnetic pulse generated by a high-altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences,” concluded a 2008 report by a U.S. commission tasked with assessing such threats for Congress, the president and other key government bodies.

Cover-up at STP Nuclear Facility Over Hurricaine Harvey

Honestly I should be talking to a plant official, but non of these guys talk to outsiders. This setup always screws the NRC and the inspectors. \

If you want to do the NRC favor, you need public relations retraining at the STP. Basically was talking about why didn’t  STP shutdown, explained the blackout procedure at TP. The inspector said never had hurricane winds at STP. I asked him does the Colorado river abut the plant, basically came back its national security information. He gave me a string of I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t knows, then later admitted he can’t disclose the information. He should have said right off the bat, it is restricted information.  Later pushed him pretty hard, he admitted in a flash of anger it was around 40 MPH. These guys would be terrible communicators in a real crisis. Basically the plants in Texas have been running great, the NRC and the inspectors have let their public communication atrophy. I have talked to a ton of NRC inspectors and NRC inspector bosses, STP inspector skills are weak. I am having trouble contacting the boss of the inspectors. I know they recorded my phone call. That is ok. I am in the realm of a cover-up.

Obsolete Turkey Point Nuclear Plant In Line For A monstrous Hurricane

Update 9/11 (This is such a sad day)

So they both shutdown and one tripped on the way down with bad equipment.  

Maybe a roof leak during the hurricane. 

Winds now 180 mph. Still a long way from Florida.

When will they shutdown?

This is way worst than Andrew!!!

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 93-53:  EFFECT OF HURRICANE ANDREW ON TURKEY POINT NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION AND LESSONS LEARNED

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to the lessons learned from the joint NRC/industry team review of the effect of Hurricane Andrew on Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station.  It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems.  However, suggestions contained in this information notice are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required. 
Description of Circumstances

Turkey Point, situated on the shores of Biscayne Bay about 40 kilometers  (25 miles) south of Miami, Florida, is the site for four electric generation units.  Units 1 and 2 are fossil fuel fired and Units 3 and 4 are pressurized light water moderated nuclear units that are owned and operated by the Florida Power and Light Company.  The area experiences tropical storms about once every 2 years and hurricane-force winds once every 7 years. 

On August 24, 1992, Category 4 (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the most severe) Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida and caused extensive onsite and offsite damage at Turkey Point.  An NRC/industry team was organized to review the damage that the hurricane caused the nuclear units and the utility actions to prepare for the storm and recover from it, and to compile lessons that might benefit other nuclear reactor facilities.  Results of the team review are presented in the report, "Effect of Hurricane Andrew on the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station from August 20-30, 1992," issued in March 1993. This report was distributed to all power reactor licensees by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations on June 10, 1993…. 

North Korea: Stealing Corn and Their Military's End-of-Times Preperations

Is this about long term plans with preparations to attack and hold South Korea?

Hungry North Korean soldiers 'ordered to steal cornbecause war is imminent'

• Nicola Smith

31 August 2017 • 11:20am

As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un boasts of his military prowess and flaunts his high tech weapons to the world, his malnourished soldiers are said to be stealing corn from fields to stave off hunger pangs.

Officers are ordering their troops to supplement their meagre food rations by plundering local fields, in order to keep up their strength for battle, according to a report in the Daily NK.

“The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told the news website...

Nuclear Plant: Hurricane Irma

update Sept 6

It is now a monster cat 5 storm with 185 mph winds. It is still heading towards Turkey Point. They seem to not have enough confidence to know where the hurricane is suppose to go.

These crazy assholes won't shut the plant down to the winds on site get to 73MPH.

When should they shutdown???

...Projected to go right over Turkey Point today. Its too early to tell though.

These guys have been tested by past hurricanes. You hoped they have learned the lessens from the past. These guys are grossly obsolete, deteriorating quickly and questionable upkeep and maintenance.

Turkey Point
St Lucie

New NKorean Threats: Gift Packages to USA?

New today.

North Korea said nuclear tests are "gift packages" to the United States and that more will follow.

Han Tae Song, the ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the UN in Geneva, made the comment during a UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament today.

The warning comes two days after his country detonated its sixth and largest nuclear test.

"The recent self-defence measures by my country, DPRK, are a gift package addressed to none other than the US," Han told the Geneva forum.

"The US will receive more gift packages from my country as long as its relies on reckless provocations and futile attempts to put pressure on the DPRK."

North Korea's EMP Weapons

Call me crazy, has North Korea completed testing with extremely high altitude ICBMs or whatever. Do you remember the missile shot who only went a few hundred miles , but went to extremely high altitudes. Remember everyone puzzling why it went so high, but never went that far?    

North Korea threat: EMP attack can destroy a nation’s entire infrastructure in a flash

KIM Jong-un needs only one hydrogen bomb to bring America to its knees. And he knows it. This is the nation-wide effect it can have in nanoseconds.

DETONATING a thermonuclear warhead 400km above Washington would instantly fry most of the nation’s power grid — and electronics.

The idea is not about melting a city, set enormous fires and irradiate vast tracks of terrain.

It’s about eliminating a nation’s entire infrastructure in a single flash.

There’s little surprise that North Korean state media has been lauding the power of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP).

This is where the gamma radiation of a high-altitude nuclear blast interacts with the ionosphere — a blanket of electrons and electrically charged particles surrounding the Earth — to send a series electromagnetic pulses spearing into the ground below.

Once this burst of radiation strikes the ground it can induce strong currents — particularly in electrical cables and phone lines. This can overload and destroy electrical networks, as well as cause delicate circuit boards to fuse.

An entire economy can be brought to a standstill in nanoseconds.

In the words of former director of the CIA James Woolsey, it would bring the United States “to a cold, dark halt”.

ELECTRIC WAR

It’s an effect similar to that of Earth being struck by a serious solar storm, or — at a much smaller scale — when lightning causes a surge in a power grid.

North Korea’s state news agency commented on just such a tactic at the weekend. It follows a series of similar observations about the power of EMP in July.

The latest statement boasts North Korea’s new bomb “is a multifunctional thermonuclear nuke with great destructive power which can be detonated even at high altitudes for super-powerful EMP attack.”

But it’s not an attack without human cost.

It would bring “widespread and long lasting disruption and damage to the critical infrastructures that underpin the fabric of US society,” a 2008 US Congress report warns.

The last time anything on this scale happened was in 1859 — when the world was just beginning to discover the use of electrical technologies. The EMP from an enormous solar storm overloaded the simple telegraph wires then in use to transmit morse code, setting the paper telegrams at their terminals on fire.

Things would be infinitely worse today.

“Two thirds of the US population would likely perish from starvation, disease, and societal breakdown,” Woolsey warned US Congress in 2014. “Other experts estimate the likely loss to be closer to 90 per cent.”

INFRASTRUCTURE ELIMINATED

Hospitals would be without power. Essential services — electricity, gas, water, sewage, communications — would all be offline. Emergency services would be unable to respond. Food production and distribution networks would collapse.

Computers. Smart phones. Car ignitions. Pacemakers. Any form of delicate electronics within the pulse’s effective range would cease to function.

But the greatest damage would be to the power grid itself. Power stations and network transformers would be burnt out.

And the effect of a high-altitude EMP burst would not be localised.

EASY OPTION

Such a high-altitude thermonuclear attack does not require the technical skills necessary to enable a warhead to survive re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere, cope with the heat of enormous speeds — and still hit its specific target.

Perhaps this is why the devastating power of EMP attack has again appeared in North Korean propaganda broadcasts.

“I can exploit it in high-altitude areas for strategic purposes and (inflict) EMP attacks on vast areas,” Kim Jong-un declared back in July.

In 2015, North Korean propaganda boasted it could destroy all electronic devices in South Korea and Japan by detonating a 100 kiloton bomb 100km above Seoul. “If we lower the altitude to 60-70km, we can make the EMP effect only the southern part of the Korean Peninsula,” it declared.

“(EMP) can neutralize all advanced electronic guided weapons and destroy aircraft carrier fleet at once”.

The warhead it tested yesterday is estimated to be in the vicinity of 50 to 120 kilotons.

But such an attack would not give Kim Jong-un a victory…

NKorea This Morning: We Are Going To Eradicate the USA From The Face Of The Earth

This paints a very bleak picture. North Koreas grew up in a cultish environment and grew up in a system of little truth and foundation of typical society. We can never understand them and they never can understand us. This is a cult and the citizen are susceptible to a collective suicidal ideation. You threaten them, they will respond in a different way than we were trained in. Certainly this would get you to a suicidal hydrogen strike on Guam or bigger, thinking this will save their ass. I am certain our government knows this country will respond to our threats, or any action, in a way we can't or ever will understand. So all this bluster from Trump isn't aimed at shaping North Korea behavior, its for us and the rest of the world. From times immortal, including South Korea, these nations have been nothing but a slaughter house and unbelievable. South Korea amazedly has straighten out.     

Somebody is giving this psychopathic and schizophrenic society money and taking advantage of these sick and abused people. What happens when two psychopathic and schizophrenic societies collide? Certainly China can't control these guys. They will think of negotiating in a different way than us and having no idea what crossing the Rubicon means. Absolutely no perception or fear of it. Never once questioning it.   

I think Putin's money is behind this as a means to destroy us. I bet you a cup a coffee, when NKorea is burning and in ruins, we will see Kim showing up in Russia or Iran.

The idea of the delay in trying to coalesce the world against NKorea is a fallacy...it insanity on our part. You are giving him time to better plan his catastrophic strike against us. Isolating him for economic reasons and cutting off his petroleum, you are going to provoke him into a suicidal attack against the world. He is a crazy mad dog, you play with him or try in control or modify his behavior, that dog is going to bite your head off and kill your children. This guy is going to behave in away we can't image. They are right now talking about my EMP (I called it emf) weapon on CNN. They ignite a hydrogen bomb high over the southern tip of south Korea, South Korea is toast, as with the economic heart of China and the rest of that power house area. Our anti ICBMs missile systems, they don't go high enough in altitude to kill the EMP missiles.

Honestly, to reform a nation like this, we are going to have crush them like we did Japan and Germany during II. Utter devastation. We would have to set up a multinational organization to totally manage this nation for decades. Or we can abandon them after the war, and there is our new Syria. That is what we face.

All those millions of "psychopathic and schizophrenic" North Koreans flooding into China, that is what China is afraid of. It would be so disruptive for a nation. China, who better knows the psyche of the NKoreans?  

      

https://theintercept.com/2017/09/04/undercover-in-north-korea-all-paths-lead-to-catastrophe/

...Maybe all this "locked and loaded", "fire and fury", multitudes of the final "red lines in the sand", maybe trump is doing this for American public consumption.

According the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint chiefs last night, just "one more threat" to us?

You know, if you make a threat, you got to be mature enough to carry it out. Or at least enlightened enough to keep you mouth shut and swallow what you see all around you. Or the world is going run right over you. I thought by the next threat, the North Korean adventure would be a thing of the past.     

Trump's weakness is humiliating us in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Now I am starting to feel so sad for President Trump. How us and himself have slung this old man through the meat grinder for entertainment. 

I am really sad about how pathetic we all are.

I am really sad about the job of the god of the universe. All the stuff we force him to do to keep this planet glue together. What a miserable and lonely job that must be... !

Hell no, I don't want that job...

Who said yesterday, the planet of the absurd? 

Jesus, Our Grand Gulf Probem

Been shutdown since Aug 30, been at 65% for many days before this. How do they make any money? There capacity factor is so disgusting.

They make looking at the NRC's plant  power level page fun. I wonder when the NRC is going to shutdown this page.