The Hinsdale NH Police Station Kangaroo Court

I gave the spark in the heads of all of the interviewed people in this article. I protested over four years at the this bridge. I was the bridge angel for four years.  Yet I never got interviewed. We've always been disappointed with how little the Keene Sentinel kept up with Hinsdale NH.

By the way, the Hinsdale police department tried to arrest me over a bum court arrest warrant over a court appearance during those times. I had cleared the warrant and the police didn't know it. Anyways, since then, the police and me have only had positive interactions.  

Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridge project could begin earlier than planned

Posted: Friday, January 29, 2016 12:00 pm

Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridge project could begin earlier than planned By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff SentinelSource.com

HINSDALE — The two bridges that allow thousands of cars to cross the Connecticut River between Hinsdale and downtown Brattleboro could be due for a replacement two years ahead of schedule.

A draft of the N.H. Department of Transportation’s 10-year transportation improvement plan for 2017-26 has moved the start date for construction of a new bridge — a single span that will replace both of the old bridges — up two years, to 2019. The start date in the 2015-24 plan had been 2021.

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The project’s total cost is estimated at about $46.3 million, according to the draft 2017-26 plan, and at least the New Hampshire portion is expected to be paid for with federal highway funds.

It would also include leaving the existing bridges in place for pedestrian and bicycle use.

The border of New Hampshire and Vermont is the high-water mark on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River.

The existing two bridges, named after Charles Dana and Anna Hunt Marsh, were built in 1920 and rehabilitated in 1988, even though there were discussions at the time about replacing them. The Pennsylvania truss-style bridges connect Hinsdale to Brattleboro via Hinsdale Island, and carry thousands of vehicles per day.

State highway officials classify the narrow bridges as functionally obsolete, which means they’re outdated, don’t meet current design standards and have height and weight restrictions.

Hinsdale Selectmen Chairman Michael J. Darcy said Thursday that the town’s long-time residents who are now in their 70s and 80s are among the most excited about the possibility of a new bridge finally being built.

“They have all said basically the same thing to me — ‘I was told 30 years ago there’d be a new bridge; now I might actually get to see it,’ “ Darcy said.

Meanwhile, up the river, there is no time frame from when the Vilas Bridge, which connects Walpole to Bellows Falls, would be repaired and reopened.

That bridge, which was built in 1930, has been closed to vehicles and pedestrians since March 2009 after it failed a safety inspection.

“Due to financial constraints and the close proximity of nearby Arch Bridge, the Vilas Bridge is not a priority in New Hampshire as reflected by the current and draft Ten Year Plans,” William H. Boynton, public information officer for the N.H. Department of Transportation, said in an email Thursday afternoon.

As for the Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridge project, preliminary engineering is scheduled to begin this year, according to the previously approved 2015-24 transportation improvement plan. Under the new plan, if approved, preliminary engineering for the project would continue in 2017 and 2018, and construction would take place from 2019-2022, with Vermont paying for a portion of that work.

N.H. Gov. Maggie Hassan submitted the draft of the 2017-26 plan earlier this month to the N.H. Legislature after receiving recommendations from the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation in December.

Project Manager Donald Lyford said the current proposal is to build a new bridge connecting Hinsdale and Brattleboro downstream of the existing two bridges.

“Moving the roadway downstream provides the best opportunity to build the roadway over the railroad on the Vermont side,” he said.

A long time coming

A project to replace the bridges has been included in the state’s transportation improvement plan since fiscal year 1994. However, it was bumped from the 2013-22 plan because of lack of funding before being put back in the 2015-24 plan.

Discussion about replacing the bridges goes back even further, to the 1970s and ’80s.

Darcy said that during the past five years, Hinsdale officials have advocated strongly for a new bridge, and have received support from the area’s elected officials in the N.H. Legislature and Executive Council, which contributed to the project being moved up on the 10-year plan.

In advocating for the project, Darcy said he and other local officials have been saying a new, modern bridge is crucial to the safety of residents and to local economic development. They reiterated those concerns, as well as the importance of continuing to foster the relationship between the Hinsdale and Brattleboro communities, during public hearings last year about the 10-year plan, he said.

“I spoke a lot about the shared community we have with Brattleboro. The loss of those bridges would mean we would lose the community and everything that entailed,” he said.

About 8,000 to 9,000 vehicles per day cross the bridges, carrying people who work on the opposite side of the river from where they live, Hinsdale students attending the Windham Regional Career Center, emergency responders and others, he said. There are also people who come from Vermont to shop in New Hampshire.

Medical services for most Hinsdale residents are in Brattleboro, as well as the ambulance service the town contracts with, Darcy said.

Complicating the safety problem, the bridge ends on the Vermont side in an area called “Malfunction Junction,” a complicated intersection with an active railroad line. Moving the bridge farther south would create less congestion in that part of downtown Brattleboro.

Darcy said the state representatives and senator covering the town, and N.H. Executive Council Colin Van Ostern, have been very supportive of the project.

Van Ostern said the bridges are very old and in a very bad state and “replacing them is critical for economic development and public safety.”

In many ways, Interstate 91 in Vermont is as important to the western part of New Hampshire as Interstate 93 is to the central and Seacoast regions of the state, he said.

State Rep. Michael D. Abbott, D-Hinsdale, said Thursday that while the placement of the bridge project in the draft 10-year plan is good news, it won’t become a reality until it’s approved by the N.H. Legislature later this year.

In the meantime, he said, he plans to do his best to “baby-sit” it through the process so that it’s part of the approved plan.

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.

Reposting again from June 11, 2014 

Moving this up so people can make a complete evaluation on their own...

I wasn't mad at getting arrested, I should have been arrested. I was furious with all the serous class A charges and the felony.

June 13 update: This might help me sound not so crazy. Two hundred and sixty one days later from from my action we get this: 

Hinsdale-to-Brattleboro bridges get new sidewalks

May 10 :HINSDALE, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Department of Transportation has replaced the sidewalks of the two bridges linking Brattleboro, Vt., to Hinsdale.
NHDOT Public Information Officer Bill Boynton told the Reformer his department's bridge maintenance crews inspect the wooden sidewalk planks on an annual basis and replace the ones that are in poor condition. He said the sidewalks on the Hinsdale bridges have not been completely rehabilitated since 1987 and wooden sidewalks typically have much shorter lifespans than the ones replaced. Boynton said the work was completed on May and the estimated cost is $24,000.
The renovation did not go unnoticed by Hinsdale resident Mike Mulligan, who is known for his public demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to the bridges and their deterioration.
"Isn't that kind of amazing?" he said Friday about the new sidewalks, though he still thinks it will still be a long time before the new bridge becomes a reality. He said he hopes the refurbishment will have a ripple effect and speed up the bridges' replacement.
Mulligan was arrested during the summer for allegedly pulling up the wooden planks of the sidewalk on the Charles Dana Bridge. Mulligan said he did so because some of the boards were loose. On Feb. 26, he reached a plea deal and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine, plus a $240 penalty assessment, if he cannot pay $1,253.76 in restitution within a year for damage he caused to the portion of the Charles Dana Bridge designated for pedestrians. In exchange for pleading guilty to one misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, he must also avoid going within 100 feet of that structure or the Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge, except for routine travel without stopping, or risk the fine and penalty assessment.
He was originally charged with reckless conduct, disorderly conduct, and two counts of criminal mischief. He also received a ticket for littering.
The two structures that connected Brattleboro to Hinsdale are Pennsylvania truss bridges built in 1920. The Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge connects Brattleboro to Hinsdale Island, which is connected to Hinsdale by the Charles Dana Bridge. JB Mack, the principal planner for the Southwest Region Planning Commission, has told the Reformer federal highway standards dictate the bridges are too narrow and have insufficient weight limits and vertical clearances. They are considered "functionally obsolete."
Currently, all ambulances and other emergency services exiting Hinsdale must cross both existing bridges and risk being stopped by the railroad tracks on the Vermont side. There is now a plan to replace the structures with one that will begin near the stop light at the former Walmart location in Hinsdale, span the Connecticut River, the southern portion of Hinsdale Island and the Merrill Gas Company tank farm on Vernon Road and before touching down near Brattleboro's "malfunction junction." Under the current plan, referred to as Alternative F, the Anna Hunt Marsh and Charles Dana bridges will be rehabilitated and preserved for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The new bridge would result in minimal changes to existing land uses, according to a draft environmental assessment, and the potential for indirect growth impact and project-related growth impacts is also minimal. The assessment also says no agricultural lands would be affected by construction of Alternative F, which was chosen as the best plan.
The project will reportedly be funded by the Federal Highway Administration.

Originally post in August 2013

The Hinsdale NH Police Station Kangaroo Court

The inaccuracies in this article are: I never scraped off any rust from the bridge. I just collect it after it all falls to the ground. You could go collect your own ten pound of rust on the ground if you want...

You notice, the police get their take on what happened and why, I can’t get my take on why I shut down the bridge walkway on the record...

I thanked the reportor for writting this...

Bridge protester arrested in Hinsdale

By DOMENIC POLI / Reformer Staff

Posted: 08/06/2013 03:00:00 AM EDT | Updated: about 10 hours ago

Tuesday August 6, 2013

HINSDALE, N.H. -- A local man familiar to area residents for his public demonstrations against the two bridges linking the town to Vermont was cited for allegedly causing damage to the pedestrian portion of one of them Friday.

Michael Mulligan, 60, was cited with reckless conduct, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and littering, according to Hinsdale Police Lt. David Eldridge. Reckless conduct is a felony.

Mulligan was released on $5,000 personal recognizance and is scheduled to be arraigned in 8th Circuit Court District Division in Keene on Thursday, Oct. 3.

Eldridge said part of Mulligan's bail conditions mandate that he not walk within a mile of either side of the Charles Dana Bridge or stop any vehicle within 100 yards of it. The lieutenant said witnesses saw Mulligan pulling up some of the bridge's boards.

Mulligan's arrest came one day after he appeared at a public meeting hosted by the Federal Highway Administration, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The meeting, held in the Brattleboro Union High School Multipurpose Room, was held to discuss the draft environmental assessment that had been released and was used to gauge local support for a project to rehabilitate the Charles Dana and Anna Hunt Marsh bridges and construct a new one to span over the nearby railroad tracks in Brattleboro and touch down near the stop light at the former Walmart location.

Mulligan, who brought with him pieces of rust he had chipped off the bridges, said he feels the environmental assessment contains gross inaccuracies and said he fears the bridges are in danger of collapsing. He said the assessment overestimates "by many magnitudes" the bridge's integrity, even though those who put together the assessment consider it "functionally obsolete."

Mulligan, wearing a homemade halo, also referenced movies in which an angel lurks near a bridge before it collapses and said he is that angel for the Charles Dana and Anna Hunt Marsh bridges.

Domenic Poli can be reached at dpoli@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311, ext. 277. You can follow him on Twitter @dpoli_reformer.

From: Michael Mulligan
To: W Kassotis
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: Public Transpotaton and a Walkway?

Officer Kassotis,

As you know, went to the bridges last night to perform my inspection of the recent work on them. It is the old half ass NHDOT. They didn’t use the proper techniques to discover all the not attached boards to the bridge. There is a ton of dangerous not attached boards on the east side of the Hinsdale bridge...lots more on the west side of the Hinsdale bridge.

I followed all my bail requirements. On the way back, I was almost overcome with a powerful urge to stop my bike and begin hucking more loose planks into the drink. The only thing that stopped me was I forget to bring my camera. I couldn’t huck planks into the water unless I could get the pictures to prove to you that I am guilty.

Anyways, we are close to pretrial disclosures....

I think Dick Tracy blew up Hinsdale's case against me. Basically, a political hack ordered or requested Dick to perform pretrial extracurricular court justice to me. We think it is the tip of the iceberg with corrupt court employees acting and being controlled by outside people. We think the courts hire people with poor integrity as a manner to appease powerful political local and state people of influence. How can I expect a fair trial if the courts and its employees are proven not trustworthy?

Here is a quote from my blog:

"You get it. Court employee Dick Tracy was punishing me...this was intentional. You get it, a local Hinsdale political hack with widespread state influence could order his court lackey employee in an off system court extracurricular manner to punish me for my alleged crimes. What are my crimes, I know the value and preciousness of human life?

The hack with the court’s permission becomes the judge and jury to me without a trial in a bail proceeding process.

The selectman pressuring the police chief to act in an illegal manner...

These are dark days in the Keene Courts..."

So I will be looking for all police documents relating to mike Mulligan and any incident associated with the Hinsdale/ Brat bridge since Jan 1 2011. All accident and incident reported about the bridge in the last ten years. All documents including the prosecutors, all notes, documents, investigations, emails, voice, cell, video...everything I can’t see. All witness statements and legal Analysis.. All communications between the police, selectman, the courts and Dick Tracy, and other town official associated with the bridge and me.

Going to have to do interviews with all the police officers and management including the police chief. Same for the selectman.

911

All NHDOT documents, communication and reports concerning the bridges, plus people interviews?

Going to have to set up a meeting with the prosecutor?

I am declaring I am representing myself in Court.

Could you get me the prosecutors name and telephone number please?

Mike



You get it. Court emplyee Dick Tracy was punishing me...this was intentional. You get it, a local Hinsdale political hack with widespread state influence could order his court lackey employee in an off system court extracurricular manner to punish me for my alleged crimes. What are my crimes, I know the value and preciousness of human life?

The hack with the court’s permission becomes the judge and jury to me without a trial in a bail proceeding process.  

The selectman pressuring the police chief to act in an illegal manner...

These are dark days in the Keene Courts...

From: W Kassotis
To: Michael Mulligan
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 1:31 AM
Subject: Re: Public Transpotaton and a Walkway?

I just looked at the bail paperwork and I see where it was checked that
you can not drive until you are restored by MV. Your license is active and
valid, it is not suspended so you do not have to worry about that.

I am still waiting for answers on your other question and will let you
know as soon as I hear

Thanks

The Hinsdale police department knowingly charged me with a obscenely inappropriate felony charge...even the class A was severely inappropriate. All this was, in the aim as the ends of putting to a stop my Constitution Rights to warn the public they are at  massively increasing risk with using these bridges.

And don't you dare destroy the "voice and video recording " of this interview!

I am just saying, if the police and prosecutors could gild the charges and accounts of the walkway...how could you not think this was going on in a widespread manner? How could you not think there was widespread court, police and prosecutorial misconduct going in our area? Somebody taught them how to do this?  

How could you trust the integrity of these guys...I wouldn’t trust any legal cases these guys had their fingers on in the last two years.

...Easy Does It wrote: Your lawyer will bargain it back down to a misdemeanor. If I were you, I wouldn't touch any more bridge planks!
Right, you are saying play it safe...don’t jump in the burning building with the intent to save precious human life. Don't you dare go through that no trespassing sign to save lives!

That ain’t me man, I am going to be running "towards" the bullets of that mad man Jared Lee Loughner…

No, the police and prosecutors can't file false and inaccurate charges on you just as a bargaining chip or to pre-set bail conditions...

That ain't democracy!

They do that over in Russia and China...not in an open democracy.

Our bridges aren’t the only thing here busted!

...This is the Felony!

Count One: RSA 634.2 

…“Having no right to do so nor any reasonable basis to believe that he has such a right, he purposely damaged the walkway part of the bridge locate on route 119 linking Hinsdale NH to Brattleboro Vermont by purposely removing the walkway boards with a crow bar causing substantial interruption or impairment of public transportation"…

...From: Michael Mulligan
To: "wkassotis@pd.hinsdale.nh.gov"
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 3:14 PM
Subject: Public Transpotaton and a Walkway? 

Public Transportation and a Walkway

They constitutes vastly different usage and the potential of the people involved.

The walkway has maybe 20 people a day using it, while the road bed 10,000 vehicles. Three people in a car on average gets you to 30,000 people per day.

The walkway mostly has sightseers, while the road bed has general commerce and public business, such as employment, shopping and appointments of all sorts.

How can it be the same crime and punishment with legislative intent?

Mike

...Bail Commissioner Dick Tracy

“Justice/Bail Commissioner”... this was under his signature. 

...The isn't just bail conditions...this pretrial incarceration and punishment, just as if the judge has already ruled on my case without hearing my side

...To the police and prosecutor:

“Aug 4: "That was a perfect arrest to me this Friday...thank you and your partner for being so decent to me.

As I told you guys in the police station, I am in love with our Constitution and we live in the best nation on the face of the planet.

I also said the police are my heroes and they will always be! Believe me around here, I am one of the few people who understands how really important our government is. I’d seen it every day while I was on the bridge!

As far as the bail bondsmen...that is a different story. Once I’d seen the restriction with staying away from bridge for a mile, I was contemplating the consequences of my life for a few seconds with not signing the conditions of getting bail. He angrily said, “either sign the documents right now or go to jail.” He was trying to provoke an emotional incident in the police station out of me. I didn’t say anything to him in response. This was so unprofessional and disrespectful to me. He is a long term resident in Hinsdale once and does he still live in town? Why was he so mean? Why wasn’t he like you guys?

Would you please pass this note onto the prosecutor?"

 * * * 

I am telling you guys, I am a kind of person you have never dealt with before. I am highly skilled in my crafts.  

...I had yet to look at my police paperwork.

I didn't know I was charged with a felony, nor did I know I couldn't drive my car. I was afraid and too upset to look at the paperwork.

...The “Justice/Bail Commissioner”, well known Dick Tracy, who was a good old boy Hinsdale insider... He and his family owned the old Hinsdale downtown True Value hardware store. It went out of business. He has a lot of connection to the big players in Hinsdale and I'll bet you that is how he got his current court job?

...From: Michael Mulligan
To: "wkassotis@pd.hinsdale.nh .gov"
Sent: Sunday, August 4, 2013 8:27 PM
Subject: Re: Hinsdale Bridge Walkway

Officer Kassotis,

Is is obvious I came into the police station originally with one violation and four class A misdemeanors before you disclosed it to me. I think the bail bondmen called your police buddy out of the office for a discussion on my charges-class-felony. It could have been you...i was nervous, my brain wasn't fully recording events. Within seconds of this special conversation request, I asked to go use the bathroom...somebody directed me to the bathroom. The bathroom was within feet of the police-bail bondsmen conversation.

In the bathroom, I overheard the private conversation between my Dick Tracy and the police officer. I heard the police officer and bail bondsmen discussing the nature of the my complaints. I heard Mr. Tracy say something like,“I am not coming out here for nothing with just class A misdemeanors“. I know it was about a discussion with one class A changed to a felony.

Was it the bail bondman’s setting the nature of the my charges from a class A to a felony, not the police or prosecutor? Was it the bail bondman setting the condition of my release?

Why was the class A changed into a felony on the spot with a bail bondman private conversation?

Why did the police originally mark it a class A on the ticket and then change it to a felony?

What was the implications if I had a no higher than a class A to my release?

What was the motive for this change?

The Hinsdale police and Keene Court owes me an explanation with this police and court bondmen conversation…"

....From: Michael Mulligan
To: "wkassotis@pd.hinsdale.nh .gov"
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 10:02 AM
Subject: Re: Hinsdale Bridge Walkway

You guys (police) didn’t know I had my driving privilege revoked.

Honestly, how smart is this....

You guys set me up to get arrested with not having a valid driving license (by not openly discussing this with me last Friday at the police station)...

Driving privilege revoked and:

“Shall not stop at the Hinsdale Bridge within one hundred yards and shall not get out of the car within one mile.”

(confidential information)

There is grave wrong doing going on here.

As you know, I wasn’t verbally notified by the police officers or the bail bondsman that my driving privileges had been revoked last Friday? I just noticed it today. I am wondering if you (police) knew of these conditions. It is a common condition for a person to be nervous as heck with a arrest and not reading the paperwork he signed...you guys know this. This is why you verbally explain the conditions and then write them down for me.

This was all about that private meeting with the bail bondsman and upping my charges to felony?"

...From: Michael Mulligan
To: "wkassotis@pd.hinsdale.nh .gov"
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 10:16 AM
Subject: Re: Hinsdale Bridge Walkway

Just so everything stays accurate...

You never questioned me about my transportation means?

Both (event)#1 and #2 occurred by bicycle...

#1 I removed loose boards, took pictures…replace those boards. Went to the police station, shown pictures to the lieutenant…made an official complaint to chief by the lieutenant that walkway was unsafe. I showed a picture to the lieutenant of a huge dangerous hole in the walkway over the Connecticut River. He didn’t know that the planks had been replaced me?

#2 Next day I remove those loose boards and hucked them over the side. Along with substantial safety barriers are both sides. It should be noted the NHDOT was using my safety barriers at both end in the morning when they were working on the bridge. And I called 911 at 9:00 pm to get the police to put up their police tape for the night.  

...From: Michael Mulligan
To: "wkassotis@pd.hinsdale.nh .gov"
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 11:17 AM
Subject: Re: Hinsdale Bridge Walkwalk

Again, for accuracy’s sake:

You told my distraught wife at my house upon my arrest all mike has is misdemeanors and with $40 bucks he will be immediately released. You never told her I had a felony!

All you did is hand me those tickets...complaints. You never went over those charges point by point like I would expect out of a professional police force with a sensitive town and region wide case.

I was never verbally notified that I was charged with a felony or a driving restriction in the police station...but you told me clearly my 500 feet and one mile restrictions. I believe at one point you told me they were all misdemeanors...but I am not 100% confident about this memory.

You verbally went over the 500 feet and one mile...the bail bondsmen repeated it, and I had follow up questions in the police station because I was confused about the 500 feet and one mile restriction. I wanted to get it right.

We are still waiting on if NH has jurisdiction in Vermont with my 500 feet and one mile restrictions. Can I use my car to take my 89 year old mother in law to the Brattleboro hospital in an emergency...i am the main care taker during the days? Am I even allowed to stop my car at the hospital?

Right, I can’t get out of a car in down town Brattleboro. You said I could ride my bike over the bridge without stopping. If a bad walkway board pops up and it makes me fall off my bike I am screwed? That could cause me to be in the NH slammer until Oct.

What if I am in another car and there is a traffic jam, accident on the bridge or train back up within 500 feet of these dangerous and dilapidated bridge, going to I 91 or other issue or the hospital...then these conditions put me at immediate risk of jail and revocation of my bail condition until Oct 3.

The traffic light at malfunction junction in Brattleboro could put me in NH slammer until Oct! 

Should I follow safety traffic rules with my bicycle by stopping in this area?

Mike

Columbia Nuclear Plant and their new Whistleblower

(work in progress)

Honestly you want me to start talking to my buddy NRC inspectors? 

Mr. Sickinger,

The NRC heavenly monitors my blog looking for emerging problems at nuclear plants and they highly favor my advice.

The Popperville Town Hall: NRC: Proof I Instigated The 2014 Christmas River Bend plant Scram Special Inspection

 “NRC: Proof I instigated The 2014 Christmas River Bend plant Scram Special Inspection”

The Popperville Town Hall: Columbia Nuclear Plant and their new Whistleblower

		The Popperville Town Hall: Columbia Nuclear Plant and their new Whistleblower Northwest nuclear plant faces inquiry over performance, management
		View on steamshovel2002.blogspot.com	Preview by Yahoo

“Columbia Nuclear Plant and their new Whistleblower”

I am a highly influential person with the NRC. The agency has created large inspections over just my say and I was heavily involved with the recent Pilgrim Plant problems heading towards a permanent plant shutdown. I live 2 miles from Vermont Yankee and they blame me for permanently shutting down the plant. I am pro-nuclear as strange as it sounds. The agency is really frightened I can see the big picture. I have many relationships with many NRC inspectors and higher NRC officials.

I saying if you get my name in your paper most likely the NRC will throw a big inspection at Columbia. Isn’t that in everyone’s interest?  The NRC knows I can read behind the line of Columbia’s NRC documents and I can make the agency miserable if I get involved in the agency’s process.   

I going to throw you a telephone call. You can call my anytime.

Sincerely

 

Mike Mulligan

Hinsdale, NH

steamshovel2002@yahoo.com

cell

***1-603-209-4206

The danger to the NRC is with Columbia's whistleblower letter and what was documented in NRC 's inspection activities...you can contrast the differences. This is extraordinarily dangerous for the agency.  

NRC: Proof I instigated The 2014 Christmas River Bend plant Scram Special Inspection

This implies there has been a catastrophic breakdown in NRC regulatory oversight. Columbia is in region IV and  severely infected by the southern and western republican teabagger government hatters.  We got the gross failure of regulatory oversight in San Onofre and prolonged shutdown Fort Calhoun.

Outside safety experts like me have always been concerned with troubled plants drawing attention away from emerging troubled plants. The NRC withdrawing resources from the perceived good plants (but severely declining) to deal with other troubled plants. Improper NRC priorities and insufficient NRC resources leads to the NRC increasing becoming blinded and this impairment not seen by anyone. You can only see this  NRC impairment after a terribly destructive plant event. Davis Besse was this kind of accident. In the post accident investigation it was seen effectively the on site inspector became blinded to the decline of the plant. We all know post accident investigation FirstEntergy was managing Besse horrifically. What can blind the corporation and the NRC to a catastrophic industry credibility event like Davis Besse or San Onofre? I think this all comes a severely enforced particular corporate and NRC financial and self-interested ideology. Money and glory about safety. The population of the USA has become our enemies and our families and self survival are at stake. We for survival sakes have to do whatever it takes to keep our families many flowing.

Ongoing events in the industry. Their in a process of blinding themselves and us.

• The natural gas fracting miracle. It is deflating the price of electricity and demand in general has been sluggish. Highly subsidized green electricity is doing the same. We are in once every hundred year storm over deflated electric price on the grid. These deflated prices are going to continue for decades.

• The NRC is severely resourced restrained and undergoing profound budget cutting. This is drastically going to jack up their priorities systems. We think the corporations are politically and intentionally blinding NRC with this and making a lot of rules non-enforceable. We just don't have enough money to enforce all the rules. We don't have enough power to make a plant and corporation behave in the greater interest of our great nation.

• Here is the industry's campaign contribution  and political arm (Nuclear Entergy Institute NEI) beginning to enforce a 30% industry wide budget cut. It is like they are blinding you in one eye. You get it, the nuclear industry and NRC are simultaneously undergoing profound and severe budgets cut. This is not going to end good. It is a process of blinding themselves. Inappropriate priorities, budget cutting and resource starvation is at the root of all the accidents in this industry. Gold dollars in the eyes of all the industry executives is at the bottom of this all.

I recently spoke to the new inspector at Fort Calhoun over their new inspection report. Basically they had water leaks damaging their emerging diesel generator through concrete ceiling and wall cracks. This went on since 2006. I can't see all the wasted resources and bureaucracy writing all the NRC inspection reports, internal work orders and bum corrective actions. These plants have in excess five million mechanical, electrical and electronic  components in the plant. Their procedures, licencing and bureacrocy is amazing complex. This is a massively complex machine. Increasing now a lot of the components don't have are a repair parts stream. The nuclear parts supplier and manufacturers   have long gone out of businesses. These guys are increasing dependant on reversing-engineering obsolete parts and the others are manufactured in the black hole of China. Basically in the prolonged leaking ceiling event at Fort Calhoun damaging a DG. This event eats a lot of bureaucracy. Survival in a massively complex machine is wholly dependant on a fixing a problem early and right the first time. You don't want to eat up bureaucracy by producing paperwork unproductively over keeping tract of degraded components. Right, five million components and parts in a nuclear plant with insufficient upkeep and maintenance, you end up with the magnitude of the new paperwork overwhelming the bureaucracy (the paperwork is electronic nowadays). It is a process that increasingly blinds the organization and  is creates massive disillusionment with all the troops. This is when large numbers is good employees lose tract of real reality and everyone then has a degradation or loss of plant "situation awareness". A nuclear plant then runs out of control.

I pushed the new Fort Calhoun NRC resident inspector...why didn't the NRC force Fort Calhoun to fix their leaking ceiling damaging a emergency diesel generator in 2006, 2009, 20014 and 2015. I told the inspector I pitied him as our congress and NRC doesn't give you the proper  tools and power to turn the bad actor licensees behavior around. I push him hard and the NRc should be given great credit for allowing me to speak to these inspectors. Remember massively complex machines and their bureaucracies. He reminded me the NRC is a sampling agency. It is the NRC's go-too excuse for not caring. The NRC inspector told me the NRC basically has only very limited onsite resources, so they only get a miniscule picture of the goings on in their plant (massively complex machines and bureaucracies). If the licensees hide problems to them it is only worst. In the tragic shutdown of San Onofre, in the after permanent shutdown of the two unit plant of the NRC over the defective steam generators...the plant inspectors and all the higher NRC executives spoke again and again about the "federal regulatory sampling philosophy" and their severe lack of regulatory resources at San Onofre. If we had money maybe we could have caught the defective steam generators before installation.

In some ways Fort Calhoun is worst than the average plant. The plant is owned  by tiny Omaha Public Power District and post NRC mandatory shutdown in 2011 the plant is managed and operated by Exelon. Can you begin to even imagine how how massively complex these two bureaucracies are? In many ways over this ceiling leak, I consider this a "cry for" help by the NRC staff at Fort Calhoun.

The NRC Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) has been using tremendous NRC resources  in recent years, They dropped a 600 ton stator in their turbine building and this killed one and injured eight. I believe they got three unprecedented yellow findings. Right now 50 NRC inspectors are at ANO doing the follow up inspection to the early 2013 event. Two of the yellow findings were over secretly covered-up..."we are a sampling agency"...flooding deficiencies  and violation discovered by accident with a the 600 ton stator severed service water pipes. It flooded the plant and flooding seals leaked like sieve. The NRC only enforces a small percentage of the known federal violations at a plant. Did the problem at Fort Calhoun (2011) and San Onofre 2012 steal NRC oversight resource from Columbia. I could make the case San Onofre stole NRC oversight resources from ANO causing the stator drop accident. Then San Onofre,ANO and Fort Calhoun stole or exhausted NRC oversight resources causing Columbia's present condition. Its like miniscule pellet particles through leaking fuel rods "flees" jumping serially from one employee to another employee( Insiders with massive fuel pin leaks will get what I am saying. Its an insider joke)    

In 1992 I was a licenced operator at Vermont Yankee. Vermont Yankee is very similar to my condition as Vermont Yankee. We had runaway budget priority problems and everyone including me had to tell lies to survive. The NRC was giving the plant way above  average grades and they had a pretty good capacity. I told the NRC VY is in deep trouble, the NRC brushed me off saying the NRC sees VY as a above average plant. All my plant buddies were talking how dangerous the plant was becoming. We had leaking fuel for many years and everyone was lying about the condition of safety equipment.  I got fed up with them all and god help me I was thinking about my young family. I wrote my concerns about the failed fuel and the increasing unreliable core cooling system. Said we are heading for a very serious accident if outsiders don't get involved. Sent my anonymous  concerns to the NRC, Vermont Govern Kunin and the head of the Vermont Public Service Board.Two months later I still anything at the plant from the NRC. Kunin and Vermont were supposed to be very liberal and anti-nuclear. It is all a facade. This when you begin to learn as a whistleblower, your friends and family can/are going to hurt you the most. The corporation can only fire and blackball you. So I came up with the bright idea of talking with the local anti nuclear. I told them I am a Vermont Yankee employee, I am a whistleblower...the plant is in a very dangerous condition. I said the employees are lying about the condition on a safety pump. I wrote a letter to the governor and she is siting on my information. I trust no one except you. They asked my how can they help. I said you need to accuse the governor of nuclear safety corruption for sitting on my letter I sent her. In a few days she was out on a podium speaking about receiving a anonymous letter from Vermont Yankee. The pump was stated in documents it was perfectly operable and functional, but Vermont discovered it actually was completely broken. I quickly was the talk of the news media and with my employee buddies at the plant. I told no one at the plant. The Governor demanded a NRC inspection...the agency denied her request at first. We then get a massive plant investigation, the state became heavily involved in VY and finally the NRC did their own investigation. A lot of investigative noise by governmental officials pressured by the news media and the plant was still perilously getting more dangerous during this process right under out feet. Believe me, I was the talk of the employees in this anonymous. They nicknamed the "anonymous alligator" who could jump out and eat their careers and family at any moment. About a year later we had the worst accident in the history of the plant. We got a plant scram, quickly got disconnected from the grid (LOOP)...then had a severe disturbance to the cooling water to the only remaining source of electricity to the plant. Both diesel generators had engine cooling water severely throttled to them. It scared the pants out of everyone at the plant.  A host of safety equipment broke or was discovered degraded in this LOOP. The control room crew was overwhelmed by the problems. That is when they set up the huge lying machine. They were so brazen with deception and and lying I became concerned my life was in jeopardy.  

Columbia Nuclear Plant And Their Whistleblower

Northwest nuclear plant faces inquiry overperformance, management

The executive board of the region's only nuclear power plant agreed Wednesday to hire an independent investigator to look into whistleblower allegations that the plant's performance has steadily declined, that it ranks among the worst in the country and that management has been hiding those results from employees, the board and members of the public.

An anonymous letter attributed to employees was circulated to several board members and The Oregonian/Oregonlive in recent weeks. It suggests managers have been glossing over operational and potential safety problems at the plant and pushing to keep it online "at all costs."

The Columbia Generating Station is a 1,200-megawatt reactor located north of Richland, Washington. It is owned and operated by Energy Northwest, a public corporation that sells power at cost to public utilities in the Northwest.

Mike Paoli, a spokesman for Energy Northwest, said the industry performance scores referenced in the letter are proprietary, so he couldn't confirm or deny any specific information in the letter.

"Our performance is not at the bottom. The letter only provides a look at select measures," he said. "In some areas we are among the poorer performers. That was sent to you via the letter. In other areas, some just as important, we are among the top performers. In some areas we're in the middle."  

Critics have argued for years that Columbia Generating Station is an aging plant that poses safety risks to the region and no longer makes economic sense to operate given other sources of cheap power. The Bonneville Power Administration, whose public utility customers buy the plant's output, has said it continues to believe the plant is well-run and economical. In 2012, it was relicensed for an additional 20 years by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The reactor does have have a history of operational problems. It experienced a series of unplanned shutdowns in 2008 and 2009, and was subsequently rated as one of the two worst performing nuclear plants in the country by an independent, industry-funded group that tracks various operational and safety measures in the nation's nuclear fleet.

That review found deficiencies in human performance, leadership and equipment reliability, prompting the replacement of its management team and an aggressive push to improve performance.

For some time, the plant's ranking did apparently improve. But according to the anonymous letter, its electricity production relative to its capacity now ranks 91^st out of 99 plants in the country. The letter says the plant's equipment reliability index, is the lowest or second-lowest in the industry. And despite a spate of recent problems, including a stuck valve in the reactor that may have contributed to fuel leaks in the fall, the letter said management has pushed to keep the plant running "at all costs," when the "conservative and safe decision would have been to shut the plant down and fix it correctly and safety."

The authors of the letter said the plant's overall score had slipped back into the bottom quartile in the ranking, and could now be near the bottom of that. 

 "Senior management continues to tell the organization and public how we are an excellent performing nuclear power plant while ignoring the precipitous fall of our industry standing by measures of reliability, equipment health and radiation protection," said the letter, which was circulated to various members of the board and became the center of board meeting discussion at its meeting in Lacey, Washington, on Wednesday.

Paoli said the author or authors of the letter were cherry picking statistics. "That's why context is needed, but it's protected, and it's not our information to give to the public. We are allowed to share it with employees, but we don't own it."

He said the plant had gone six years without an unscheduled shutdown, that it broke its monthly electricity-generation record in December and achieved a new record for continuous generation – 683 days – before entering its last refueling outage in May.

Some board members expressed frustration at Wednesday's board meeting that they were not informed of the deterioration in the plant's performance scores, however.

"It's a legitimate criticism that managers continued to say things were fine when they weren't," said Jim Malinowski, a board member and commissioner at Clark Public Utilities. Malinowski said he still has confidence in management and that he'd been assured by federal nuclear regulators that the plant was well operated. The real test would be whether managers could get the performance scores back into the first or second quartile and keep them there.

"It's good that members of the staff are asking these questions, and it's good that it's getting out on the table," he said. "Hopefully it will produce a good result."

Paoli said it became apparent at the board meeting that not all members fully understand the measures and charts being used by the chief executive and chief nuclear officer in briefings. But he said the

the executive board's decision to hire an independent investigator was not a validation of the issues raised in the letters they received.

"It's an endorsement of our nuclear safety culture that allows any employee to raise concerns with the certainty that their concerns will be taken seriously and fully addressed."

- Ted Sickinger 

tsickinger@oregonian.com

Flint Mich Drinking Water: Quintessential Cascade Event

This is what happens in an increasingly fragile system or systems with tremendous forces building up unseen and unperceived . You got maga tons of snow building up on a steep mountain incline and forces holding the snow flake glued to each other and the mountain are secretly weakening. An infinitesimally small force begins placing the massive pent up energy in motion and no power on this planet can stop the developing avalanche. It's the bane of all large hierarchical and centralized organizations. These avalanches go up hill.

Was Fukushima really a cascade accident?

No doubt the inflexibility of the Michigan Republican Conservative ideology played a role in the avalanche of many avalanches. And the indifference of the poor and weak themselves about themselves?

How do you explain the lack of actions by the feds and Obama?

When the Water Turned Brown

By ABBY GOODNOUGH, MONICA DAVEY and MITCH SMITHJAN. 23, 2016
FLINT, Mich. — Standing at a microphone in September holding up a baby bottle, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a local pediatrician, said she was deeply worried about the water. The number of Flint children with elevated levels of lead in their blood had risen alarmingly since the city changed its water supply the previous year, her analysis showed. 

Within hours of Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s news conference, Michigan state officials pushed back — hard. A Department of Health and Human Services official said that the state had not seen similar results and that it was working with a much larger set of data. A Department of Environmental Quality official was quoted as saying the pediatrician’s remarks were “unfortunate,” described the mood over Flint’s water as “near-hysteria” and said, as the authorities had insisted for months, that the water met state and federal standards.

•  
•  

Dr. Hanna-Attisha said she went home that night feeling shaky and sick, her heart racing. “When a state with a team of 50 epidemiologists tells you you’re wrong,” she said, “how can you not second-guess yourself?” 

No one now argues with Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s findings. Not only has she been proved right, but Gov. Rick Snyder publicly thanked her on Tuesday “for bringing these issues to light.” 

Nearly a year and a half after the city started using water from the long-polluted Flint River and soon after Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s news conference, the authorities reversed course, acknowledging that the number of children with high lead levels in this struggling, industrial city had jumped, and no one should be drinking unfiltered tap water. Residents had been complaining about the strange smells and colors pouring from their taps ever since the switch. 

Already this month, federal and state investigations have been announced, National Guard troops were distributing thousands of bottles of water and filters, and Mr. Snyder was calling for millions in state dollars to fix a situation he acknowledged was a “catastrophe.”…

It's the anniversary of the explosion in the space shuttle Challenger. This cascade accident cascaded into destroying the space shuttle Challenger. Basically these were obsolete ships being placed under increasing burdens with insufficient budgets. Basically our misplace priorities destroyed these ships. "Look up "Normalization of deviance"?  

It is basically a severe and a fatal organization mental disease. It numbs all the minds in the organization to reality. 

Fiery blast destroys space shuttle Challenger

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The space shuttle Challenger exploded into a huge fireball moments after liftoff yesterday morning, killing all seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, the New Hampshire high school teacher who was to be the country’s first private citizen to orbit the Earth. 

As Challenger rose spectacularly off its launch pad into clear blue skies at 11:38 a.m., all appeared normal, and a crowd that included McAuliffe’s husband, two children and parents roared its approval.

Then, 75 seconds into the flight, as Challenger achieved full engine power for the thrust that would carry it into orbit, the spacecraft inexplicably exploded…

Fort Calhoun: Complete Breakdown in NRC Oversight Again

So here is the LER on this. With all these bum corrective actions and new ones, in 2014 and 2015 they discovered the floor coating twice cracking and a brand new leak in 2015. They are quailified running a nuclear.

Tell you how much value is a non cited violation, the NCV makes their knees tremble. 

How come no new LER on the new 2015 leak???

Licensee Event Report 2013-015-01: 

Unqualified Coating used as a Water Tight Barrier in Rooms 81 and 82 

On September 23, 2013, it was identified that the floor structure in Rooms 81 and 82 may not maintain its integrity during a high energy line break environment allowing water to migrate into the rooms below that houses the diesel generators and safety related switchgear. This was reported on September 23, 2013, under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(B), Unanalyzed Condition (Event Notification 49378). Fort Calhoun Station was shutdown in MODE 5 when the condition was identified and entered into the station's corrective action program as Condition Report 2013-18103. 

Inspection report 

***September 23, 2013, CR-FCS-2013-18103: During periodic coating inspections, the licensee identified yet again that the coating in Room 82 had degraded during a routine walkdown. The licensee performed another Apparent Cause Analysis and determined that the 2009 RCA was inadequate.
***October 18, 2014, CR-FCS-2014-12894: A building operator identified several cracks and chips in the Room 82 floor coating. Work Order 552343 was generated to recoat the floor, but was never completed. 

***January 21, 2015, CR-FCS-2015-0874 and CR-FCS-2015-0883: During a routine walkdown of Room 82, a design engineer identified additional cracks in the Room 82 floor coating. In addition, the engineer identified a piping penetration seal in the Room 82 floor that was degraded. Work Request (WR) 220667 and WR 220668 were generated to repair the penetration, and WR 220618 was generated to recoat the floor. 

***October 14, 2015, CR-FCS-2015-11976: Maintenance personnel identified a water intrusion into Room 63. Water had been dripping around the primary starting air compressor. The leak was identified to be from an auxiliary steam system leak in Room 82.

These guys thinks just throwing in the paperwork in the system mysteriously fixes the problem without using money and organization. If you pray to the gods to fix a problem god always come through. The inspector went to the agency's best go-to excuse...the agency is only a sampling regulator and we see only a limit view of the problems in the plant. So the NRC documents Fort Calhoun's eight or nine failed attempts to fix this safety related roof or ceiling leak in this inspection report. It first was a non sited violation in 2006 when the leak was first documented. Then eight fail attempts or more to fix it over almost  over a decade threatening the operation of a emergency Diesel Generator, it is still a non sited violation 2016. The NRC's violation or risk determination system is broken down. The repeated nature as this, the NRC's risk determination system doesn't capture the threat...appropriate feedback to change corporate behavior...with having such a chaotic organization running the plant.     

You know what this reminds me of; the fire water piping leak in Indian Point unit 1 over many years leading to a huge flooding event. They stuck the very small piping leaking problem into their paperwork or computer problem documentation system repeatedly. The small leak kept getting lost in their monsterous bureaucratic system and their godzilla priority system until the huge pipe completely burst. I believe the pinhole leak was spinning in the bureaucracy uncorrected for a decade. Hierarchical bureaucracies are supposed to be highly efficient and effective at identifying and fixing problems. They are not designed to highly efficient at burying and hiding problems.     

I talked to the new Fort Calhoun inspector yesterday about this problem. Its the "black swan" event proving either the site is severely backsliding or the correction coming out of the NRC 's mandatory plant shutdown in 2011 wasn't deep enough.

 I asked why hasn't  the NRC warned Fort Calhoun once say in 2006 or 2009, then if they came upon it again, then violating them and severely jack up the violation level. The new inspector told me they severely punished Fort Calhoun by shutting down the plant. You get it, the agency is siloed by congress to be severely reactionary. Only hammer the plant once it's in the news with a big event. I told him I expect the NRC to prevent a 2011 Fort Calhoun. I pay you to prevent events like this. 

I asked the inspector, is cracking concrete walls and floors acceptable in plant licensing and USFAR. He laughed saying, I am not a licensing expert. I don't know. Not, I'll get back to you mike.

He scoffingly told me, normal buildings are filled with concrete cracks. I've seen concrete building with a lot more cracks. So is telling me his opinion...not a engineering fact. Where is his evidence and codes where it is acceptable with a foundation to have a lot of cracks? These guys advocate for the industry not needing any facts to back him up when they talk off the cuff. I seen a lot of building concrete foundations without a single crack in them. A good quality concrete foundation or building never has a crack in the crack on the concrete.        

Generally NRC officials talking to outsiders like me, they get quickly into defending the industry interest. They rarely stay in the government regulatory neutral role.

By the way, the inspector was very talkative to me yesterday and he respected me. He knew my name before I said it, he reminded me I had talked to him more than once before.   

April 30, 2009 

Subject: FORT CALHOUN STATION NRC INTEGRATED INSPECTION

REPORT 05000285/2009002

Findings

Introduction. A Green self-revealing noncited violation of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, “Corrective Action,” was identified for the licensee’s failure to take prompt corrective measures after identifying that water could penetrate cracks in the turbine building concrete floor and adversely impact the operability of an emergency diesel generator and safety related switchgear. Cracks in the floor of turbine building mechanical equipment room were identified in February 2006, when water was observed

I think it is a huge threat when any water is leaking from the ceiling or through a wall...its alway should be a rather large violation because this piece of equipment is so valuable. Almost a decade to fix this? These guys should be responsible for completely fixing it right on the first leak...taking more than one bite out the apple, it indicates serious organization dysfunction.

***Maybe in the 2009 or the Feb 9, 2011 leaks, the NRC should have severely hammered the hell out of Fort Calhoun over these leaks. This should have cued the NRC into looking more closely into the site organizational problems. They would have found a lot of serious problems. Then rock the organization with a severe violation level into having a change of heart....fundamental reform. Then the summer of 2011 events won't have happened. 

____________________________________________________________

You get it, often looking underneath a perceives insignificant problem leads to discovering huge organization problems under the iceberge.

The IAEA inspection team urged the Nuclear Regulation Authority to enhance inspection competence and the government to amend its nuclear safety law to make on-site safety checks more effective and flexible.

Mission leader Philippe Jamet, a French regulatory commissioner, said Japan's inflexible inspection rules do not allow inspectors to move freely at nuclear facilities or respond quickly when there is a problem.

This inspection process is severely flawed in USA nuclear plants. This is similar to the recent IAEA report finding on the Japanese nuclear regulatory authority. NRC regulations severely restricts an inspector from getting into the business of the plant like Fort Calhoun. This is how political campaign contributions influences federal regulations. I proposed an additional area of inspections:1) Inspection report areas defined by NRC regulation. 

2) An NRC inspector or official reported observation of events at the plant. These professional observations in inspection reports would be unconstrained from the typical NRC regulations and would be protected areas from intimidation to the inspector and other NRC officials. These are my observation of important or emerging issues at the plant(either in house use or for the industry in general as a mean of drawing attention)needing attention. These inspector or official "observations" would be totally disconnected from any violation or penalty to a licencee. Just a general comment or warning and a inspector's ability to speak totally free without repercussion or restrains.

_________________________________________________________

leaking into the Diesel Generator 1 room (Room 63). The licensee took no immediate corrective actions to evaluate or repair the cracks. In February 2009, water was again observed leaking into Room 63, resulting in unexpected tripping of breakers associated with the Diesel Generator 1, secondary compressor motor starter.

Description. On February 11, 2009, maintenance workers were removing tags for maintenance on Diesel Generator 1, and determined that three breakers associated with the secondary air compressor had tripped. Investigation revealed that arcing on the power leads had occurred due to the introduction of water into the breakers from the ceiling of the Diesel Generator 1 room (Room 63). The source of the water was standing water on the floor of the turbine building mechanical equipment room (Room 82), which is located directly above Room 63 (as well as the Diesel Generator 2 room, and the east and west Switchgear rooms). After the water was removed from the floor of Room 82, several cracks were evident in the floor, which provided a path of water from Room 82 to Room 63.

I suspect the cracks are moving as the building and concrete is heated up or cooled off. I'll bet you the concrete foundation at Vogtle or other new construction nuclear plant doesn't have one crack in it. 

The inspectors’ review of corrective action documents determined that a condition report was created (CR 200600399) which documented an event that occurred on February 1, 2006. That event also involved water flowing through the ceiling of Room 63 near the area of the starting air compressors. The condition report was classified as a Condition Level 6, which was the lowest condition report classification. The condition report was closed to a work request since “equipment is not an SSC [structures systems and components].” The resulting work order applied caulking to certain areas of the floor in

***Careless repair of a concrete crack in caulking without understanding the fundamental mechanism causing the crack.Painting it is so unprofessional... 

Room 82, but did not address all of the floor cracks or the

Need a extent of condition or cause on all concrete cracks at Fort Calhoun plant...

Did any building settle as result of the flooding at Fort Calhoun? 

potential impact on safety-related equipment. The licensee’s failure to recognize that cracks in the floor of Room 82 could impact the operability of the diesel generators resulted in an improper classification of the condition report, limiting the review and depth of subsequent corrective actions. The corrective actions that followed were inadequate to ensure a watertight surface between Room 82 and all the rooms located below it.

Analysis. The inspectors determined that the failure to take prompt corrective actions to address a condition adverse to quality was a performance deficiency. This finding was more than minor because the failure to perform adequate corrective actions on the turbine building floor, if left uncorrected, could become a more serious safety concern. Specifically, water could seep through the floor and render the emergency diesel generator and/or safety related switchgear inoperable. Using the Manual Chapter 0609, “Significance Determination Process,” Attachment 4 “Phase 1 - Initial Screening and Characterization of Findings,” this finding was of very low safety significance because it: 1) was confirmed to result in a loss of functionality of the secondary compressor motor starter; 2) did not represent a loss of safety function; 3) did not result in a loss of a technical specification required train for more than its allowed outage time; 4) did not result in a loss of risk significant equipment for more than 24 hours; and 5) did not screen as potentially risk significant due to a seismic, flooding, or severe weather initiating event. This finding did not have a crosscutting aspect because the performance deficiency was aged and not indicative of current licensee performance.

Enforcement. Title 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, “Corrective Action,” states, in part, that measures shall be established to assure that conditions adverse to quality are promptly identified and corrected. Contrary to the above, in February, 2006, the licensee failed to promptly correct a condition adverse to quality (cracks in the turbine building mechanical equipment room floor). The cracks were a condition adverse to quality because they permitted water to leak on to safety related equipment, which could challenge safety related equipment operability. The licensee entered this issue into their corrective action program as Condition Report 2009-0687.

Because this finding was of very low safety significance and has been entered into the corrective action program as Condition Report 2009-0687, this violation is being treated as a noncited violation, consistent with section VI.A of the NRC Enforcement Policy: NCV 05000285/2009002-01, Failure to Implement Adequate Corrective Action for Floor Cracks.

January 21, 2016 

SUBJECT: FORT CALHOUN STATION – NRC PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION INSPECTION REPORT 05000285/2015009

Findings

.a Failure to Take Adequate Corrective Action to Preclude Repetition of a Significant Condition Adverse to Quality Associated with Emergency Diesel Generator Room Water

Intrusions

Introduction. The team identified a Green NCV of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, “Corrective Actions,” for the licensee’s failure to take adequate corrective action to prevent repetition of a significant condition adverse to quality. Specifically, since February 2009, the licensee failed to prevent repetitive water intrusions from the Auxiliary Building HVAC room (Room 82) into the number one Emergency Diesel Generator room (Room 63).

Description. On February 11, 2009, the licensee had documented a significant condition adverse to quality due to water intrusion from the Auxiliary Building HVAC room (Room 82) into the number one emergency diesel generator room (Room 63), located below. The water intrusion had caused water to leak onto the secondary air compressor motor starter in Room 63 and tripped the associated breakers. This electrical transient then caused the number one emergency diesel generator, which was running for surveillance purposes, to trip. The licensee initiated Condition Report CR-FCS-2009-0687 and subsequently determined that an unanalyzed condition had existed by which an auxiliary steam leak in Room 82 could potentially result in water entering both diesel generator rooms through the floor of Room 82. This condition had existed at least since February 1, 2006, when CR-FCS-2006-0399 was written to document water dripping from the same crack in the ceiling of Room 63 above the secondary air compressor. This event was documented as a Green NCV in NRC

Inspection Report 0500285/2009002 (ML091200069).

Why wasn't this a LER?

The licensee performed a root cause analysis (RCA) following the event in 2009. The analysis determined that the root cause was a failure to document, in the licensee’s USAR, the implicit assumption that the floor in Room 82 shall not leak. As a result, a program was not established to assure the integrity of the flooring. Licensee corrective actions included the following:

• •Coating the Room 82 floor.  

• •Revising the USAR to document the implicit assumption that floors of rooms analyzed for medium and high energy line breaks are leak tight.  

• •Revising the periodic structural inspection of the Auxiliary Building to ensure all ceiling cracks, for rooms that are susceptible to internal flooding, are documented and evaluated.

Following implementation of the above corrective actions, recurrent leaks into Room 63and identified examples of inadequate Room 82 floor coating were identified by the licensee and documented in the licensee’s corrective action program, these included:

• •January 9, 2011, CR-FCS-2011-0156: The licensee identified water leaking into Room 63 at approximately 3 drops per minute. The licensee performed an evaluation and determined that this leak was from a previously identified ceiling crack, and that the drip would not impact the operability of any equipment in this location.

Flooding and switchgear breaker two year shutdown. You would think by Fort Calhoun getting punished with the two year shutdown and all their mandatory corrective actions...the new conscience of the plant....they could fix it right the first time. Why didn't the intense NRC inspection during the recovery catch the water leaking into a diesel generator room.  

• •October 6, 2012, CR-FCS-2012-14958: The licensee identified water dripping into Room 63 while placing Room 82 auxiliary steam in service. On October 12, 2012, the licensee generated Work Order 461213 and made repairs to the Room 82 floor coating where chips and cracks were identified. The licensee then performed an

But why in the above?

• Apparent Cause Analysis, and determined that the floor coating previously installed was not adequate for Room 82. The licensee generated Engineering Change (EC) 62082 to modify the floor coating to a more suitable material. This EC was implemented on October 22, 2013.

• •September 23, 2013, CR-FCS-2013-18103: During periodic coating inspections, the licensee identified yet again that the coating in Room 82 had degraded during a routine walkdown. The licensee performed another Apparent Cause Analysis and determined that the 2009 RCA was inadequate.

• •October 18, 2014, CR-FCS-2014-12894: A building operator identified several cracks and chips in the Room 82 floor coating. Work Order 552343 was generated to recoat the floor, but was never completed.

• •January 21, 2015, CR-FCS-2015-0874 and CR-FCS-2015-0883: During a routine walkdown of Room 82, a design engineer identified additional cracks in the Room 82 floor coating. In addition, the engineer identified a piping penetration seal in the Room 82 floor that was degraded. Work Request (WR) 220667 and WR 220668 were generated to repair the penetration, and WR 220618 was generated to recoat the floor.

• October 14, 2015, CR-FCS-2015-11976: Maintenance personnel identified a water intrusion into Room 63. Water had been dripping around the primary starting air compressor. The leak was identified to be from an auxiliary steam system leak in Room 82.

Following the water intrusion event on October 14, 2015, the licensee recoated the floor per an existing WO 552343 and cancelled the work requests associated with the degraded floor penetration (WR 220667 and WR 220668), since work planners had assumed that all repairs had been made. 

Really an act of a employee falsifying internal documents and impairing the NRC oversight?

The inspectors performed a walkdown of Room 82 following repairs to the flooring on November 18, 2015, and noted that the degraded pipe seal had not been fixed, and that water intrusion via this piping penetration was still a vulnerability to the rooms below. The inspectors informed the licensee, and at this time, CR-FCS-2015-13151 was generated to repair the degraded fire seal.

Analysis. The team determined that the licensee’s failure to implement adequate corrective actions to prevent repetitive water intrusions into Room 63 was a performance deficiency. The performance deficiency was more than minor, and therefore a finding, because it was associated with the protection against external factors attribute of the mitigating systems cornerstone and it adversely affected the cornerstone objective to ensure the availability, reliability, and capability of systems that respond to initiating events to prevent undesirable consequences (i.e., core damage). Specifically, water intrusion events from Room 82 into Room 63 could challenge the reliability of the emergency diesel generator when relied upon during a loss of offsite power. Using Inspection Manual Chapter

A broken Significance Determination Process...

0609, Appendix A, “The Significance Determination Process (SDP) for Findings At-Power,” Exhibit 2, “Mitigating Systems Screening Question,” dated June 19, 2012, inspectors determined that the finding was of very low safety significance (Green) because it: (1) was not a deficiency affecting the design or qualification of a mitigating structure, system, or component, and did not result in a loss of operability or functionality; (2) did not represent a loss of system and/or function; (3) did not represent an actual loss of function of at least a single train for longer than its technical specification allowed outage time, or two separate safety systems out-of-service for longer than their technical specification allowed outage time; and (4) did not represent an actual loss of function of one or more non-technical specification trains of equipment designated as high safety-significant in accordance with the licensee’s maintenance rule program. The finding has a problem identification and resolution cross-cutting aspect within the resolution area because the licensee did not take effective corrective actions to address issues in a timely manner commensurate with their safety significance [P.3].

Enforcement. Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 50, Criterion XVI, “Corrective Actions,” requires, in part, for significant conditions adverse to quality, the measures shall assure that the cause of the condition is determined and corrective action taken to preclude repetition. Contrary to the above, between February 2009 and November 2015, measures established by the licensee to correct a significant condition adverse to quality did not assure that corrective actions were taken to preclude repetition. Specifically, corrective actions taken to address water intrusion from Room 82 into safety related emergency diesel generator Room 63, a significant condition adverse to quality first identified on February 11, 2009, were not effective to prevent recurrent water leaks. Immediate corrective actions to correct this condition included evaluating the Room 82 flooring for operability and recoating it. This violation is being treated as a NCV, consistent with Section 2.3.2 of the Enforcement Policy. The violation was entered into the licensee’s corrective action program as CR-FCS-2015-11976 and CR-FCS-2015-13151. NCV 05000248/2015009-01, “Failure to Take Adequate Corrective Action to Preclude Repetition of a Significant Condition Adverse to Quality Associated with Emergency Diesel Generator Room Water Intrusions.”