Junk Plant Grand Gulf Christmas Season Scram

Update Dec 18

update 3pm. The NRC just called me up about my concern. They informed me Grand Gulf's incomplete daily event report is under investigation. The NRC feels it was grossly incomplete and insufficient too. 

The NRC said, the condensate and feedwater system is also under investigation for not functioning right. This is the normal way to keep the core cool. You see what is am saying, the normal way to keep the core cooled failed, there is no mention of this in first daily event report or the update. It almost looks like if it failed, we just don't have to report it.

The NRC says Entergy is spending a tremendous amount of money to upgrade the plant. They are happy with the effort. Well, to me they say it is safe and making a effort, but the agency knows the plant is a day. They can't put as much new gear into the plant, but it is a organizational problem. The people and relationships aren't fixed...  

Reposted...Originally posted on 12/13/2018

Mike Bowling, Entergy communications manager for the utility nuclear region, said plant operators manually took the plant offline at 1:51 p.m. last Wednesday after a turbine bypass valve was opening and oscillating.

Hmm,it looks like the NRC has a beef with the manual shutdown. I doubt this was according to procedure. The safe and conservative thing to do was scram the reactor. A cycling turbine bypass valve places a plant in a unbelievably unstable condition. How do you really know what is broken or degraded...you can a conservative determination that it is only going to get worst. In recent years, to minimize reporting bad information to outsiders, they defer to a slow manual shutdown than at scram. Did they take the slow shutdown solely to minimize reporting requirements to outsiders? These guys have all sorts of special inspections for scrams and  huge down powers in recent years. This kind of behavior ends in downgrading grades of a plant. This is the worst preforming plant in the nation. Downgrading the scores of a plants means more inspections and they are very expensive. Maybe management's strategy to the ops department was it is cheaper to take a manual shutdown than a scram. Maybe saving money was the watchword than being safe and conservative.          

SO Grand Gulf was "shutdown". I am not sure if it was a slow normal shutdown or a scram. see how poor the wording is with it being a normal shutdown or a scram? 

What concerns me magnitudes more than all the broken and degraded equipment, the horrendous profitability and being unsafe is the extremely skimpy information in the first daily event reports. It prettifies the event by only telling us the equipment that worked at the plant. They are sterilizing the bad information coming out of the plant. I just gave  call to Mr. Dricks. Check out the new information in the special inspection notification.

This plant shouldn't be at power in this condition. The NRC should require to plant stay shutdown until the report comes out. That is what they do in Europe...a kind a incentive to keep your organization coherent or we will put you in the sidelines.

As a cautionary note, I think the NRC thinks this is a emergency situation. In recent years, they notify the outside a special inspection is coming 1 to 2 months after the plant shreds the bad information and they got a good coverup story going. In recent years, the NRC has drastically cut back doing special inspection and similar inspection. I don't think the on site inspectors were really doing their jobs.        

December 18, 2018 Contact: Victor Dricks, 817-200-1128that   

NRC Begins Special Inspection at Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection at the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant to review events that led to, and occurred following, an unplanned shutdown on  December 12. The plant, operated by Entergy Operations, is located in Port Gibson, Miss. The plant was operating at full power when operators noticed an unexpected increase in reactor power and decided to shut down as a precautionary measure. The reactor was safely shut down but some equipment issues occurred that the agency wants to better understand. The two-member NRC team will spend about a week on site developing a chronology of the event, and evaluating the licensee’s cause analysis and the adequacy of corrective actions. An inspection report documenting the team’s findings will be publicly available within 45 days of the end of the inspection.

Honestly, can we afford a nuclear plant meltdown or nuclear industry shattering event in our current national tribulations? 

Did anyone notice how long it takes to fix a declining and dangerous plant? It takes many many years like: Pilgrim, ANO and Grand Gulf. 

So it is a coverup. Again where is the feed system. From a professional's perspective, not notifying the NRC properly and incorrectly filling out the paperwork is a direct indication how incompetent these guys are. These guys in recent years was required to stay shutdown for 6 months, basically because their licensed operators were unsafe and incompetent. Entergy brought nuclear experts from far and wide in the USA to analyzed what is wrong with the organization and high intensity retraining for the control room operator. Missing the checkmarks in the paperwork is a indication these guys where in a rattled state.

I have been monitoring the nuclear area of LinkedIn. The headhunters are always advertising about getting professional(college degreed)staff to work in their southwest nuclear plants. It is unbelievable how short staffed they are with these people. It is more about not getting the professional people to work at the plant, than not getting enough college educated people to come to their plant. And by no means is getting degree people to come to the plant is sufficient to keep a plant safe. It takes a tremendous amount of training to bring these degreed people up to speed.        

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53788 ting
Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4     State: MS Unit: [1] [] [] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: GERRY ELLIS HQ OPS Officer: JOANNA BRIDGE	Notification Date: 12/12/2018 Notification Time: 17:29 [ET] Event Date: 12/12/2018 Event Time: 00:00 [CST] Last Update Date: 12/14/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS INJECTION 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION	Person (Organization): NICK TAYLOR (R4DO)

Unit

SCRAM Code

RX Crit

Initial PWR

Initial RX Mode

Current PWR

Current RX Mode

1

M/R

Y

100

Power Operation

0

Hot Shutdown

Event Text

EN Revision Imported Date : 12/17/2018 EN Revision Text: MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM DUE TO FAILED OPEN TURBINE BYPASS VALVE "At 1351 CST, the reactor was manually shutdown due to 'A' Turbine Bypass Valve opening. The Main Steam Line Isolation Valves were manually closed to facilitate reactor pressure control. Reactor level is being maintained through the use of Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System, Control Rod Drive System, and High Pressure Core Spray System. High Pressure Core Spray System was manually started to initially support reactor water level control. Reactor Pressure is being controlled through the use of the Safety Relief Valves and the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System. The plant is stable in MODE 3. "The cause of the 'A' Turbine Bypass Valve opening is under investigation at this time. "The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified." * * * UPDATE ON 12/14/18 AT 1140 EST FROM GERRY ELLIS TO TOM KENDZIA * * * "This is an update to EN # 53788 to correct an error on the event classification block of the form. The original notification did not have the block for 8 hour notification for Specified System Actuation checked. The actuation of Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System was discussed in original notification." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified R4DO (Taylor).

Update

Remember, River Bend and Grand Gulf by the USC are considered unprofitable. See, Entergy doesn't want to spend enough money to keep the nuclear industry respectable.   

This already looks like a coverup. They doing a lot less public reporting than just a few years ago. The Core Spray system was terribly unreliable as far as a few years ago. What would happen if the high pressure core spray system would have failed yesterday. It already looks like a tremendous quantity of equipment  failed yesterday. 

"High Pressure Core Spray System was manually started to initially support reactor water level control."   

This is very problematic. Why didn't the normal feedwater system work? This is the normal way to feed the core. What is wrong with the normal reactor feed system. So the turbine control system failed...why is Do this guys have a HPCI system. These guys are notorious for poorly training their employees and maintaining the their safety equipment. Did they initially only have Core Spray to feed their vessel?      

***I am convinced all these scrams, down powers and startups are setting up the nation for a reactor accident we never seen before.   

Well, since the beginning of Nov 2018, I have been looking for a scram. Here it is. River Bend had the last Christmas scram. So far this is the Christmas season scram. There is plenty of time left for a Christmas day scram. 

These guys are notorious for extremely slow startups to full power. Usually equipment troubles causing it. Going to watch them closely this startup.   

There is a high probability we could get two scrams. Everything has changed, as news media and the state grid regulators have been highly sensitized over poor capacity factor.

Basically this is where financial and southern business ideology override the facts and engineering. This is the limited money we apportion to a plant, we don't care how erratic the plant has become. We got captured the local news media, the politicians, the local regulators and Feds, they don't give a shit how erratic our plant becomes.  

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53788
Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4     State: MS Unit: [1] [] [] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: GERRY ELLIS HQ OPS Officer: JOANNA BRIDGE	Notification Date: 12/12/2018 Notification Time: 17:29 [ET] Event Date: 12/12/2018 Event Time: 00:00 [CST] Last Update Date: 12/12/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS INJECTION 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL	Person (Organization): NICK TAYLOR (R4DO)

Unit

SCRAM Code

RX Crit

Initial PWR

Initial RX Mode

Current PWR

Current RX Mode

1

M/R

Y

100

Power Operation

0

Hot Shutdown

Event Text

MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM DUE TO FAILED OPEN TURBINE BYPASS VALVE "At 1351 CST, the reactor was manually shutdown due to 'A' Turbine Bypass Valve opening. The Main Steam Line Isolation Valves were manually closed to facilitate reactor pressure control. Reactor level is being maintained through the use of Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System, Control Rod Drive System, and High Pressure Core Spray System. High Pressure Core Spray System was manually started to initially support reactor water level control. Reactor Pressure is being controlled through the use of the Safety Relief Valves and the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System. The plant is stable in MODE 3. "The cause of the 'A' Turbine Bypass Valve opening is under investigation at this time. "The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified."

Junk And Dangerous Plant Grand Gulf Is Restarting?

Update Dec 24

98% power

Once they got past the three day delay at low power, then not a bad startup. We still could have a Christmas scram? A host of agencies and news sources are closely watching these guys over poor power operation, I hope they don't take chances to "look good" for their audiences.      

Update Dec 21

That is more like it. 78% power

Update Dec 20

Check out this new LER? These guys have what we call a ground detector monitor. They can measure any ground on the plant whether large or small in the control room. Many junk plants have many grounds that just show up. They have so many, they just ignore the grounds. Did Grand Gulf have any abnormal indications on the ground meter?  

Basically stuck in the low twenties percent power for three days. Like I said, a very non professional startup. Most plants can get to the high 90% percent in two or three days. I guess they are changing a flat while the plant is up at power. I am convinced it is the condensate and feed system or turbine control that is sticking point. In my days, per NRC approved procedures, you had a long list of systems and components on a official paperwork. All these systems needed to be tested and found fully functional. If you put any checkmark on the list indication problems on any component or systems, it was illegal to startup the plant. In the old days, plant management would startup a plant with a host of equipment broken, degraded or undergoing maintenance. They were intending to repair the equipment at power. The plants went crazy with this unsafe and non conservative. You know, only a few outlier bad plants with malicious practices ruin it for the rest of the good plants. That is how we got that list forcing us to startup with a clean plant. Tons of over regulation occur because these few bad operators.           


Update 19

See what I am saying? Stuck at 18%. It looks like they knowingly started up the plant with components of condensate and feed system broken. Hoping they would fix it at power.

And one plant in ANO tripped. 

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53793
Facility: ARKANSAS NUCLEAR Region: 4     State: AR Unit: [1] [] [] RX Type: [1] B&W-L-LP,[2] CE NRC Notified By: SEAN DAVIS HQ OPS Officer: DONG HWA PARK	Notification Date: 12/18/2018 Notification Time: 15:40 [ET] Event Date: 12/18/2018 Event Time: 00:00 [CST] Last Update Date: 12/18/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION	Person (Organization): RYAN ALEXANDER (R4DO)

Unit

SCRAM Code

RX Crit

Initial PWR

Initial RX Mode

Current PWR

Current RX Mode

1

A/R

Y

100

Power Operation

0

Hot Standby

Event Text

AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP - LOSS OF NON-VITAL BUS "On December 18, 2018 at 1126 CST, Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 (ANO-1) reactor automatically tripped due to a loss of the A-1, non-vital 4160V bus. All control rods fully inserted. Loss of the A-1 bus resulted in de-energizing A-3 vital 4160V bus. Emergency Diesel Generator #1, K-4A, started automatically and is currently powering A-3 vital bus. Non-vital buses A-2, H-1, and H-2 and vital bus A-4 transferred power automatically to the Startup Transformer #1. Off-site power remains energized and available for ANO-1. The reason for loss of A-1 bus is unknown at this time. Currently, ANO-1 has stabilized in Mode 3, Hot Standby." Decay heat is being removed by the main condenser using the turbine bypass valves. The loss of the A-1, non-vital bus, is under investigation. The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector and the state.

Update Dec 18

Sorry Pathetic pace at 18% in one 24 hours. Pathetic pace at 4% yesterday, 18% today...  It reminds me of a newly licensed car driver who drives ridiculously showed in order for him to compensate for his poor driving skills.

Brand new problem identification inspection report. The NRC system is fundimentally a bureaucratic absolution system. The plant does a sin, everyone does a ton of paperwork including the NRC, but no fundamental change. They are dinging these guys with harmless papercuts...

The inspectors observed meetings of the station’s Plant Health Committee (PHC) on  October 22 and November 5, 2018.  According to the licensee’s governing  Procedure EN-DC-336, “The primary mission of the PHC is to identify, prioritize, and drive resolution of issues challenging unit reliability,” by focusing on things such as, “safety system health and “organizational alignment . . . to resolve equipment reliability issues.”  The procedure further provides that the PHC meetings should be, “action oriented and results driven, rather than weighted more to status / update / discussion.”  While this PHC process is not a safety-related or quality process as is the CAP, it serves an important oversight function of problem identification and resolution processes, particularly for ensuring appropriate attention and resources are focused on broad challenges that are evidenced by a series of more discrete issues that may be documented and addressed in the CAP.  The inspectors observed that contrary to PHC goals and procedural direction, discussions at the meetings were focused almost entirely on what actions had been complete, rather than proactive discussions of strategies for issue resolution.

***I doubt this will be a professional startup...

4% power today???

The NRA Is A Russian Front Organization and Work For The KBG For Decades

Has the NRA received any unexplained monies other than from the gun corporations and their members.

This would explain how the NRA sowed so much public controversy and killed so many people? Disrupted our society with their gun ideology.

Are the NRA and it's members really anti American at its core?

Think of the positivity of NRA being defined as a Russian front. It would lead to the complete dissolution of the NRA. The red blooded NRA members were played by the Russians.

Junk Plant Watts Bar: 4.2 Earthquake Right Under Plant

What about the lessens learned from Fukushima? So its design is 6.0, with a safety margin of lets say 10%. Basically this is Trumpian truth. See how all these officials learned this from Trump. 

"Here in East Tennessee you have to go all the way back to the 1800s to get to the most significant earthquake, which was above a 6.0," TVA spokesperson Jim Hopson said. "So today's 4.4 is not even close to what we're designed to withstand, which is above a 6.0 earthquake." 

 Tennessee Earthquake, Strongest in Decades, Jolts Homes in the Region and Atlanta

By Matthew Haag

Dec. 12, 2018

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday morning in rural Eastern Tennessee, rattling homes as far away as Atlanta in the region’s most powerful jolt in more than 45 years.

The earth shook around 4:14 a.m. local time just outside Decatur, Tenn., a city of about 1,600 people near the Great Smoky Mountains, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was shallow, about five and a half miles below the surface, sending ripples throughout the area and into neighboring states.

It was the strongest earthquake in Eastern Tennessee since a 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Maryville, Tenn., in 1973, the National Weather Service said.

About 150 miles to the south, people in Atlanta said they woke up on Wednesday to their houses shaking. There were no reports of injuries or serious damage.

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Karen Webb, a dispatcher at the Meigs County Sheriff’s Department in Decatur, said a few residents called to report that small items had shifted in their houses during the earthquake.

“A picture turned over,” Ms. Webb said. “Maybe a lamp.”

The earthquake struck about two miles east of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, one of the largest nuclear power stations in the United States. But the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates the plant, said Watts Bar suffered no damage.

Is The Election Losing Washington Republicans Going To Pull A Wisconsin Power Grab or Neutering

Update Dec 18

No question, Flynn lied to him admitting he lied about Pence. A good soldier falls on his sword to save the higher up. So Pence was in on everything illegal Flynn did. Everyone is lying about Pence because they know he is going to be the next president.   

Update Dec 15

I am think now Pence is going to resign. Do us a favor...

Update Dec 12

See, what I am saying.  Pence is not presidential timber. Honestly, it looks like he is on some good pot. Do you for a minute think this was unintentional. Are they playing this, Pence is such a goof, won't you rather have Trump staying as president. That is my outlier thought. But the idea he looks so much like a goof, his body was so out of control in the oval office with congressional leaders on TV...should he ever be president.  

***

"In Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans who control the state legislatures are trying to use year-end "lame duck" sessions to rein in the governors' power now that Democrats have won those seats.

Basically, are the losing US House Republicans, the Senate and Trump going to conspire to take over the the US government in the closing days of this political cycle. Effectively a limited coup?  So, towards the end of Jan 2019, maybe within minutes before the new guys getting sworn in...will Trump and both the House and Senate republicans pardon their asses off and pass new law's, such that all the big players associated with Trump get a free pass on all their illegalities for the good of the nation. 

Everyone knows the post Trump era, much like the impeachment of Nixon...you can expect the republicans to get a absolute election beating next presidential election. This election cycle coming up is small potatoes compared to the next one, with a president stepping down in a deal or impeachment. We are going to be talking trump crimes and impeachment for the next two years.  Nixon teaches us in impeachment, you got to take the long view. Take your lumps in the beginning, maybe a little pardon here and there, probably lose the next few election cycles, purge all the bad stuff out in the beginning...but after the next two or so cycles, the republics will regain the presidency and congress pretty quickly. Maybe just before trump resigns in disgrace, he gives all his illegal buddies a pardon. Then Pence pardons Trump. Actually I don't think Pence will be the president. He is too much damaged goods. He would just keep this trump crisis going into his presidency. Maybe it would be the end of the Republican party or something much worst. I think Gerald Ford is going mysteriously show up. If it goes through impeachment and the court system, the damage would go on for a decade or more, with the republicans never regaining the house, senate and presidency. That is when Spiro Agnew will show up. We are going to need a reason to take out Pence. So who would be the next fumbling Gerald Ford. Right, it would effectively be a global settlement between the Democrats, Republicans and the over powering Deep State. You know, stability is in their interest. The coup d'état will be kind of a soft type...not a all encompassing total national collapse. It will be for the good of the country. We will wipe out Trump, Pence and lots of lower level high officials from the system, install a brand new set of hapless figureheads as head of state, Trump and his top band of crooks will effectively get a free pass or pardon. We will have to put a bunch of lower lever officials in jail. On the long view, these lower level officials will occur no or little damage. But the public would have to be sated with lots of insignificant officials going to jail.

new(That would be Pence's obstruction of justice if he gives trump a free ride. I think lots of congressman in the House and Senate should be charge with a conspiracy and obstruction of justice with Trump's campaign and presidency.) 

They really wouldn't take over the government,they already got the control, but they would subvert all our institutions and constitution for control the world. The republicans would really take a big early hit, but they would subvert our constitution to limit the long term political damage to the republicans. The democrats would just be happy with a stay of a death sentence.

I thought they just throw enough money at the nukes to never make them an a aging plant? I think we are basically talking about a form of a Republican conservative ideology...how republicans do nuclear power. Entergy has a particular republican ideology.

Remember, this company is owned and controlled by some 90% of institutional investors...  

Downtime at 'aging' Grand Gulf attracts increased scrutiny

Edward Klump and Kristi E. Swartz, E&E News reporters

Energywire: Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Tucked near Mississippi's border with Louisiana, deep in Entergy Corp.'s territory, rests the largest single-unit U.S. nuclear power station.

It's called Grand Gulf, and it boasts a 1,443-megawatt capacity.

But it hasn't been acting like a dependable backbone of the power grid.

An E&E News review of federal daily reactor status reports from 2013 through last month found Grand Gulf listed at full power roughly 52.5 percent of the time. It was at zero percent power almost 21 percent of the days studied. On other days, it was at various reduced levels.

Does that sound like a baseload plant?

"No," said Ted Thomas, chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission.

New Orleans-based Entergy has a 90 percent stake in the plant through an entity called System Energy Resources Inc. Cooperative Energy in Mississippi has the other 10 percent.

Utilities in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana get a chunk of electricity from Grand Gulf, so regulators notice when it's offline. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) manages the grid in the region, but outages at Grand Gulf can have implications for customers' bills and utilities' carbon footprint. That's because tapping other generators can be more expensive and increase the use of fossil fuels.

"I'm aware they're having issues with an aging plant, and we probably need to look at that further," Thomas said recently...

Grand Gulf Capacity Factor

Grand Gulf capacity factor