Junk National Regulator (Japanese): Just Like The NRC?

I won't let any of the Japanese plants to restart until the Japanese regulators were 200% capable with safety overseeing the nation's nuclear plants.

It just shows you how internationally corrosive big business and the corporations are to governments and businesses they oversee? It is a worldwide phenomenon and they are all ganging up on us all. And don’t forget about the dummy news media they all support.

I get it, the USA is putting the Japanese under our welfare system. So why isn't this diluting the NRC resources? Our NRC is under drastic budget cutting and the system is getting more busy by our obsolete and aging USA fleet. Now we got to train the Japanese regulator? Where is Trump when you need him. I'll bet you the way the USA runs the show, we'd pick up the bill of training the NRA.

If Trump was running the show he make a pretty penny out of training the Japanese NRA. 

It is disgusting since March 2011 this is only how far the Japanese nuclear regulator has gotten into being a competent national regulator. It is five years and they are still this bad?  I'd have nothing to do with people like this. I'd be afraid they would poison my mind. 

Right, the Japanese political system is just as dysfunctional as our political system. Really, how could they be worst than us???   

IAEA review spurs nuclear regulators to beef up Japan’s safety regimenAP

• Apr 25, 2016

The Nuclear Regulation Authority says it will revise laws, nearly double inspection staff and send some inspectors to the United States for training to address insufficiencies cited by International Atomic Energy Agency experts. 

The NRA announced the plans Monday in response to an IAEA evaluation of Japan’s nuclear safety regulations since the 2011 Fukushima crisis. The report was submitted to the government last week. 

The IAEA review, its first since the NRA was established in 2012, was conducted in January. It said that even though Japan has adopted stricter safety requirement for nuclear plant operators, inspections are reactive, inflexible and lacking free access. 

While the 1,000 U.S. inspectors have two years of training, Japan’s 150 staff members receive a two-week course.
The NRA plans to enact laws in 2020 to achieve the IAEA’s recommendations.

The Top Ten Poor Man Junk Nuclear Plants?

Can you ever recover from throttling money for maintenence in the black mail period like today? It is doubtful? This market crisis on the grid is like no other and we don't know how far down it will go. Are you just stuffing money down a rat hole? No doubt the below is a nuclear industry strategy to claw back more money from businesses and the ratepayers. Is it the most efficient way to spend money for electricity?    

Say collectively we are talking about a hundred million dollars for the ten plants. Basically we are putting these plants on heavy duty welfare on steroids. Basically the state legislators are putting them under part time welfare. So why isn't the legislators advocating for extra requirements from the corporations. Like a large proportion of the 100 million dollars will must go into increased maintenence, upgrades and training. Will a large proportion, like 99%, instead go into executive bonuses and increase in stock price? Pennies for maintenence?
1) I would required a large proportion of the increased funding going into maintenence and upgrades. Remember as these plant's ages increase they increasingly are getting disconnected from their repair parts stream. They will have to reverse engineer and contract to manufacture at Chinese plants an increasing percentage of their repair parts. This is exponentially more expensive. I think the dark secret is the utilities really want to put on the most expensive power sources as they get a bigger chunk of money from them.

2) Require more transparency...require a skeptical and knowledgeable safety advocate to oversee the plant and NRC for the rest of their lives.             

Showdown: Lack of state action puts nuclear plantat risk

   Edith Brady-Lunny eblunny@pantagraph.com

Edith Brady-Lunny

o     

   Apr 24, 2016

CLINTON — As the financial losses mount from Exelon's operation of the Clinton Power Station, the message from company officials that the plant may close next year without legislative intervention has taken on a renewed and pressing urgency. 

The single-unit power plant situated on about 14,000 acres six miles east of Clinton has transformed from a big money producer for Exelon's fleet of 11 reactors at six Illinois sites to posting $360 million in losses over the past six years.  That shift has put the 29-year-old plant in danger of early retirement — the plant's current reactor operating license will expire Sept. 29, 2026. 

In 2014, Exelon informed state lawmakers — and the public — that Clinton and the Braidwood and Byron plants in northern Illinois could be targeted for shutdowns if changes were not made to state law to help the utility more effectively compete with its counterparts in the energy industry. 
So far, the Legislature has failed to act.
Without help from Springfield, contends Exelon, it's questionable the plant that employs about 700 workers and pumps $63 million in payroll dollars into the area annually will remain open.
"It's definitely something that could happen. Exelon is going to make a decision this year, by fall at the latest," said Exelon spokesman Brett Nauman…

At least five plants involved with Exelon and five with Entergy. 

Cuomo considers how to help New York state's ailing nuclear plants

By The Associated Press The Associated Press
Follow on Twitter
on April 23, 2016 at 12:45 PM, updated April 23, 2016 at 1:10 PM

22 shares

FitzPatrick nuclear plant

·         Cuomo considers how to help New York state's ailing nuclear plants 

·         Hundreds of workers arrive in Oswego County for Nine Mile 2 refueling outage 

·         Oswego County settlement would slash tax revenues from FitzPatrick nuke plant 

·         If FitzPatrick nuclear plant closes, Oswego County eligible for new state aid 

·         Nine Mile Point nuclear plant faces financial peril, exec says

All Stories

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's four nuclear plants, which generate more than a quarter of the state's electricity, are going through turbulent times amid slumping power prices. And depending on how things play out, one or more could shut down entirely, affecting jobs, power reliability, electricity bills and carbon emissions.

Though opposed by many environmentalists, New York's nuclear plants are seen by state regulators as a steady source of electricity that doesn't contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is crafting a plan that would direct millions of dollars a year extra to keep ailing upstate nuclear plants operating. Officials say the cost to individual customers would be small and would be outweighed by environmental and economic benefits.

As regulators work on a broad plan to help the nuclear industry, individual plants are being buffeted by financial and, in one case, political pressures. Here's a look at the issues at the plants and possible consequences:

FITZPATRICK

Operators of the FitzPatrick plant on Lake Ontario north of Syracuse announced plans to shut down on Jan. 27, 2017. Entergy Corp. blames low natural gas prices, high operational costs and a "flawed" market the company says doesn't adequately compensate nuclear generators. The plant, which began generating electricity in 1975, employs more than 600 people and produces 838 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 800,000 homes.

The Cuomo administration is crafting an expedited financial support plan that could potentially help FitzPatrick.

Entergy spokeswoman Tammy Holden wrote in an email this week that they "are moving forward with the safe and orderly shutdown of FitzPatrick."

INDIAN POINT

Entergy's Indian Point on the Hudson River north of New York City has been in the crosshairs of environmentalists and politicians such as Cuomo. A top concern is how to evacuate the more than 17 million people living within 50 miles of the two reactors if there's an emergency. Federal regulators are allowing the reactors, which began producing electricity in the mid-'70s, to operate as the company seeks license renewals.

Entergy's two New York plants illustrate an unusual cross-current in the state's nuclear policy: the company wants to keep Indian Point running and plans to close FitzPatrick; Cuomo wants FitzPatrick open and has called for the closure of Indian Point.

GINNA, NINE MILE POINT

The Ginna plant along Lake Ontario near Rochester is operating under a surcharge that costs the average residential customer a little more than $2 a month extra. Operator Exelon had considered retiring the plant, which began producing electricity in 1970, before the surcharge was imposed. Exelon also operates the two reactors at the Nine Mile Point plant. The surcharge could expire in March 2017…

Junk plant Ginna: Failure of 46 Year Old Transformer and Plant Trip

Basically a run to failure philosophy. They are make believing they are the coal power industry. Those guys were into run to failure big time.

The failed transformer was model Westinghouse serial number RBR-6831 and had been in service for 46 years. There was no indication or warning of impending failure.

LER 2016-001 

Loss of Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A Resulting in Automatic Start of Emergency Diesel Generator A due to Undervoltage Signals to Safeguards Buses 14 & 18

On 02/11/2016 at 2305, Ginna Station experienced a loss of Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A, causing Emergency Diesel Generator A to automatically start due to undervoltage signals to safeguards buses 14 and 18. Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A failed due to a high side phase to phase internal fault with relays for overcurrent and differential current actuated. All plant systems responded as designed. Control room operators stabilized the plant per abnormal operating procedures. The plant was placed in 100/0 electrical lineup on the off-site circuit 767 with Emergency Diesel Generator A secured. Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A was replaced with a spare and the plant was restored to normal off-site power line-up on 02/20/2016 at

0018.

The failed transformer was model Westinghouse serial number RBR-6831 and had been in service for 46 years. There was no indication or warning of impending failure.

Look at how long they were in a less safe plant electrical line up. Check out their risk determination, they had a replacement sitting on site. They didn't want to wait for a new order at the time of the event. But they never found the time to install the new transformer in the plant before the 46 year old Aux transformer failed. 

I was waiting for them to say, replacing transformers proactively wasn't in their procedures. Blame it on the procedure writers???  

February 11, 2016:

• 2305 hours - Operations received indication of loss of off-site power circuit 7T. Emergency Diesel Generator A started and loaded safeguards buses 14 & 18. Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A was determined to be the failed component with indication from overcurrent and differential relays tripped. Technical Specification LCO 3.8.1 was entered.

• 2306 hours - Operators entered Emergency Operating Procedure AP-ELEC.1 for loss of 12A Bus.

• 2325 hours - Operators started Equipment Restoration Procedure ER-ELEC.1 for restoration of off-site power, in order to supply all loads from off-site circuit 767.

February 12, 2016:

• 0032 hours - Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A was removed from service and the electric plant was placed in 100/0 lineup. In this lineup, off-site power circuit 767 provides service to all four of the 480 volt safeguards buses via Station Auxiliary Transformer 128.

• 0052 hours - Technical Specification LCO 3.8.1 was exited with power to safeguards buses 14 and 18 restored from off-site power circuit 767.

• 0053 hours - Emergency Diesel Generator A was secured.

• 0127 hours - Abnormal Operating Procedure AP-ELEC.1 was exited after transferring all loads to off-site circuit 767 via ER-ELEC.1.

• 0351 hours - Notification of Emergency Diesel Generator A start, event# 51730 was made per 1OCFR50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A)

February 12-19, 2016:

• Activities performed by the station to replace Station Auxiliary Transformer 12A with a spare transformer.

February 19, 2016:

• 1813 hours- Replacement transformer energized.

February 20, 2016:

• 0018 hours: Operations established the Normal off-site power lineup (two off-site power feeds), as was the pre-event condition, by completing procedure 0-6.9.2.

Junk Plant Brunswick: Double Preventable Explosion, Trip and LOOP

05000324/325

These guys are very dangerous. A double preventable event is one where say a high voltage cabinet leaks water inside. They discover it and fix it in a half ass manner. It should have created the explosion trip and LOOP but only luck intervened on the first shot. Then it leaks again cause the big explosion.         

Duke? Brunswick Steam Electric Plant: 

Electrical Bus Fault Results in Lockout of Startup Auxiliary Transformer and Loss of Offsite Power

On February 7, 2016, at 1312 Eastern Standard Time (EST), Unit 1 was in Mode 1 (i.e., Run) at 88 percent of rated power in end-of-cycle coastdown. At that time, an electrical fault occurred on a balance of plant 4160-volt bus, resulting in a lockout of the Startup Auxiliary Transformer (SAT) and a loss of both Reactor Recirculation pumps. Licensed personnel inserted a manual scram per procedure. Emergency Diesel Generators supplied emergency electrical busses until offsite power was restored at 1628 EST. The loss of power and reactor water level changes resulted in automatic closures of various Primary Containment Isolation Valves (PCIVs). The electrical fault resulted in an electrical explosion; therefore, an Alert was declared at 1326 EDT. The immediate cause of this event was a fault in a non-segregated electrical bus connected to the SAT. The root causes were insufficient detail in applicable maintenance instructions for inspecting the non-segregated bus housing and inadequate instructions for terminating electrical cables in a circuit breaker cubicle. Corrective actions include repairing equipment damaged by the electrical fault and revising the procedures and work instructions.

Event Causes

The initiating event was two arc flashes that occurred in a non-segregated bus (i.e., a bus in which all three phases lie within a single housing) and in a circuit breaker cubicle which powers the 18 VFD for a Reactor Recirculation system pump. The first arc flash occurred in an area of the bus housing outdoors where water had accumulated. The fault created a voltage imbalance which led to the second arc flash which occurred in the breaker cubicle where cable insulation was found to be degraded.

Water entered the non-segregated bus housing through a degraded seal and an area that had previously been repaired. The water created the conditions conducive to an arc flash. 

In the breaker cubicle for the 1 B VFD, it was found that during installation in 201 O of electrical stress relieving insulation (i.e., "stress cones"), the dielectric insulation on a cable jacket had been damaged when a piece of semiconducting material was being removed. The arc flash occurred at the point where the cable insulation had been damaged.

The root cause of the moisture intrusion into the non-segregated bus was inspection procedures did not contain sufficient specific detail based on highest risk locations (i.e., specifically, horizontal surfaces through which bars penetrate) to ensure that deficiencies that can lead to water intrusion are identified and corrected during its implementation. A contributing cause was that the design of the bus housing is not optimum for the application because it is susceptible to corrosion leading to water intrusion. The root cause of the damaged cable insulation was failure to specify and use a depth-limiting cutting tool for removing semiconducting material from cable insulation. 

When workers removed semiconducting material from the cable during initial installation of the cable termination stress cone, the underlying cable dielectric insulation was scored, reducing its insulating effectiveness. This contributed to conditions which led to an arc fault in the affected 4160-volt cable. A contributing cause was lack of a post-installation test method which would be adequate to detect insulation deficiencies...

They are depending on the electrical procedures being correct. When skill of the craft is missing, then good procedures are worthless. These guys didn't have the electrical high voltage basic engineering skills to do this job.

I doubt this would ever happen again on this piece of equipment. The problem is if this is systemic, they could be ignoring problem or just being to stupid to understand other problems are developing.   

Corrective Actions 

Any changes to the corrective actions and schedules noted below will be made in accordance with the site's corrective action program.

• Affected equipment related to the event has been repaired, including the affected non-segregated bus housing, conductors and stress cones, and circuit breaker. These actions are completed. 

• The procedure for splicing and terminating wires and cables will be revised to include lessons

learned from this event, including the use of depth-limiting cutting tools and inspections for damage

after cutting operations are performed. This action is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016. 

• The procedure and work instructions for inspecting and cleaning the non-segregated busses will be

revised to eliminate the root causes of the water intrusion. This action is expected to be completed

by August 25, 2016. 

• An improved cable testing methodology will be specified in appropriate maintenance procedures. 

This action is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016.

• The non-segregated bus housing design will be presented for action by the site's Modification 

Review and Prioritization Team (MRPT) for scheduling and design work. This action is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016.

Junk Entergy Has Giant Ethical and Federal Falsifications Issues

How can you not say on the nuclear fleet level is not having systemic ethics and falsification issues. These are just counted from Jan 1, 2016. Entergy has had a ton of fleet ethics training mandated fleet wide over a number of confirmatory letters over falsification in the last few years. Why keep doing the same thing over and over again that never works.  

Bottom line, the NRC thinks broken ethics is just risk insignificant at any level.    

***Entergy agrees to review fire safety at reactors after probe into falsified reports at a Louisiana power plant

Daily Report Staff

April 11, 2016 

Entergy Corp. has agreed to review fire safety measures at all its nuclear reactors after an investigation by federal regulators found that workers at one plant failed to follow rules and falsified records.

Bloomberg reports contract workers at Entergy’s Waterford 3 nuclear power plant in St. Charles Parish falsified reports showing they had performed fire inspections that never occurred between July 2013 and April 2014, according to a statement issued Friday by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

An Entergy supervisor also failed to take action when provided with information of suspected wrongdoing, the agency says. Plant operators are required to carry out periodic inspections to ensure fire doesn’t damage the reactor’s equipment.

The commission’s findings come as Entergy faces renewed scrutiny over its safety record. Last month, nuclear regulators said that.

***Entergy avoids fine in falsified fire report case at Pilgrim Station

By: Matthew Nadler | April 12, 2016

Entergy won’t be fined following the discovery that a former employee falsified fire watch records at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

Pilgrim Station Vice President John Dent, Jr was informed of the decision in a letter from Nuclear Regulatory Commission Acting Regional Administrator David Lew on Tuesday.

The company could have been fined $70,000, according to the letter. However, the NRC credited Entergy with investigating the problem after another employee had expressed concern. The safety officer who falsified the reports was fired and the company reexamined its fire watch procedures.

The security officer at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station falsified over 200 fire watch records between June 2012 and June 2014. Fire watches are supposed to be done an hourly basis in certain areas of the plant, according to an e-mail from NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.

***River Bend: SUBJECT: CLOSURE OF INVESTIGATION (014-2014-046)

 January 25, 2016

Dear Mr. Mccann:

This refers to an investigation conducted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Investigations regarding activities at the River Bend Station. The Office of Investigations initiated the investigation to determine whether a former nuclear security officer at Entergy Operations, Inc. 's River Bend Station, St. Francisville, Louisiana, willfully falsified training records by taking tests for other River Bend Station nuclear security officers, and if River Bend Station security supervisors and managers willfully provided answers to test questions and requested and allowed the former nuclear security officer to take tests for other nuclear security officers.

Based on the evidence developed during the investigation, the allegation that a former River Bend Station nuclear security officer willfully falsified training records by taking tests for other River Bend Station nuclear security officers was not substantiated…

Junk Plant River Bend: Unprecedented 8 LERs since Jan,1 2016

Junk Plant River Bend: Unprecedented 8 LERs since Jan,1 2016 

Junk Plant River Bend: Intentionally Starting Up With a Dead Rod

05000458

I doubt this plant is designed for finding something wrong with a rod, calling it inop, and then intentionally starting up with the dead rod until the next refueling period. Is is plainly unprofessional.\

The causal analysis for this event will be completed when the control rod can be removed for inspection during the next refueling outage. The results of that investigation will be provided in a supplement to this report.

We are getting a lot of exotic LERs out of these guys.

I doubt the NRC disclosed whats going on in their inspection report? 

They don't tell us what is wrong with the rod. They kinda make believe they don't know what caused this. I believe they know what is wrong. I wonder why they don't disclose it? The idea they don't fully know what is wrong with the rod is mind boggling. How do they know this problem won't effect different rods. 

River Bend: Operations Prohibited by Technical Specifications Due to Reactor Control Rod Drift During Core Alterations

On January 19, 2016, at 5:28 a.m. CST, while conducting core alterations, an alarm was actuated in the main control room alarm indicating that a' reactor control rod had drifted out of the fully inserted position. At the time, a fuel bundle was being raised out of the core, and the control rod in the same cell drifted out one notch with no "withdraw" command present. This condition actuated a corresponding alarm on the refueling platform, and system interlocks stopped the platform hoist with the fuel bundle partially withdrawn. When the control rod moved from the fully inserted position, the Technical Specification applicability for the intermediate range neutron monitoring system was inadvertently entered, while a certain function of those instruments was not operable. This event constituted operations prohibited by Technical Specifications, and is being reported in accordance with 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(i)(B). After a detailed assessment of the situation, the fuel bundle and the control rod were returned to their original positions. The drive mechanism for the control rod has been disabled, and the control rod will remain fully inserted for the remainder of the current fuel cycle. The causal analysis for this event will be completed when the control rod can be removed for inspection during the next refueling outage. The results of that investigation will be provided in a supplement to this report.

Worst Job In USA: Newspaper Reporters

It is the only people I hate, except drug cartel leaders. Ok, I like heroin drug dealers better than newspaper reporters amd main media reportors.

Newspaper reporter named nation's worst job...again

eporters might not work with chainsaws or automatic weapons, but their job is worse than a logger or an enlisted soldier according to CareerCast.com's latest study. 

The job search and job ranking site has rated different jobs and careers through a variety of metrics since 1988. For the second straight year, newspaper reporter took the unwanted classification as the "worst job of 2016," with CareerCast citing a decline in print subscriptions and declining ad revenue leading to fewer job prospects and unfavorable pay.  

Other media jobs also made the worst list, including broadcaster at No. 3 and disc jockey at No. 4. The only thing worse than those two is logger or lumberjacks, which came in just behind reporter. Enlisted military personnel came in fifth, just behind disc jockey.

Junk Plant Plant: Permanent Shutdown May 2019

Well, at least they will be under intense scrutiny with the paper-whipping NRC.

The NRC requiring them to shutdown would give the agency instant cred? 

With the serious electricity over supply according to the NEISO ($25.25 megawatt watt-hour today)...there is no need of the plant.     

Closing date set for Pilgrim nuclear power plant

By David Abel and John R. Ellement Globe Staff  April 14, 2016

The company that owns the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station said Thursday that it intends to refuel the power plant next year and continue operating for three more years.

Officials at Entergy Corp. said the plant in Plymouth will close on May 31, 2019. 

The company had been weighing whether to shutter the plant next year -- as critics had hoped it would -- before it undergoes an expensive refueling process. 

The decision means that Pilgrim’s 609 employees will continue to work there until the plant closes, but activists also say it means Entergy will continue operating one of the nation’s least-safe reactors. 

“We’re pleased that we will be able to keep our team of hardworking, professional employees actively engaged in safe operations for the next three years and in a return to regular NRC and industry oversight,” said John Dent, Pilgrim’s vice president, in a statement posted on the company’s website. 

Local activists have long opposed the plant’s continued operations and said they worry that Entergy is more concerned about its finances than public safety. 

“The bottom line is that this decision is about Entergy’s pocketbook, not about public safety,” said Mary Lampert, director of Pilgrim Watch, a longtime critic of the plant. “This is an old plant, and Entergy is unwilling to spend the money to fix the problems, and the NRC is allowing them to do that. That means we’re in a heightened period of risk.” 

Last October, Pilgrim announced it would close no later than June 2019, after supplying power to more than a half-million homes and businesses for four decades. The announcement came a month after the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission designated Pilgrim one of the nation’s three least-safe reactors. 

Company officials have said they decided to close the plant because of the plummeting price of a competing fuel, natural gas, and the reluctance of federal and regional officials to provide financial incentives for nuclear power plants. 

On Monday, company officials said they decided to refuel the plant because it was the best way to fulfill their commitments to provide power to the region’s electrical grid. The plant was obliged to provide power through 2019.

“This was the most viable way for us to do that,” said Patrick O’Brien, a Pilgrim spokesman. 

The decision to continue operating for another three years means that Pilgrim will undergo its last refueling in the spring of 2017. The plant must cease operations while it refuels every other year. 

The 2015 refueling outage resulted in a $70 million investment in the plant and hundreds of contractors, Entergy officials said. 

The company said it would release a plan to decommission the plant within two years after shutting down, as required by the NRC. 

The 680-megawatt plant, which opened in 1972, generates enough electricity to power more than 600,000 homes.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @davabel.

Junk Plant Pilgrim: Two DGs Inop

You would think they would inspect the good DG before they removed they removed the bad one. 130 drops per minute is a big leak. 

Facility: PILGRIM Region: 1 State: MA Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] GE-3 NRC Notified By: MIKE MCDONNELL HQ OPS Officer: JEFF HERRERA	Notification Date: 04/12/2016 Notification Time: 07:47 [ET] Event Date: 04/12/2016 Event Time: 00:50 [EDT] Last Update Date: 04/12/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(3)(v)(D) - ACCIDENT MITIGATION	Person (Organization): JOHN ROGGE (R1DO)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
1	N	Y	100	Power Operation	100	Power Operation

Event Text

LOSS OF BOTH EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATORS "On April 12, 2016, with the reactor at 100 percent power and the mode switch in RUN, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station entered an unplanned 24-hour Limiting Condition for Operation (LCO) action statement due to both emergency diesel generators (EDG) being inoperable (Technical Specification 3.5.F.1). At 0050 [EDT] this morning, with EDG B out of service for a planned LCO maintenance window, EDG A was declared inoperable due to a 130 drop per minute leak on a line to a jacket water pressure indicator. "Repairs to EDG A are underway at this time. "The following plant equipment has been verified operable: both 345 Kv transmission lines; 23kV transmission line; Station Blackout EDG. "This condition is reportable to the NRC Staff as an Event or Condition that Could Have prevented Fulfillment of a Safety Function (Mitigate the consequences of an accident) under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(v)(D), and requires an 8-hour notification. "The licensee has notified the NRC Senior Resident Inspector. "The licensee will notify the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

Junk Plant Wolf Creek: Appalling Sense of Safety with Emergency DG

Power Potential Transformer Overloading Results in Emergency Diesel Generator lnoperability

On October 6, 2014, at approximately 1326 Central Daylight Savings Time (CDT) during a scheduled 24-hour Run, the 'B' Emergency Diesel Generator (EOG) unexpectedly tripped and a fire was observed in the electrical cabinet (NE106). This resulted in an unplanned entry into a 72 hour shutdown Limiting Condition of Operation (LCO) and an ALERT emergency classification. The source of the fire was the Power Potential Transformer (PPT). On 1/28/16, a Hardware Failure Analysis concluded that the failure of the PPT was most likely due to overloading which resulted from failure of a diode in the power rectifier of the EOG excitation system. Failure of the diode mostly likely occurred during load transients on June 11, 2014. 

The station did not have the ability to assess the degradation of the PPT within the EDG's excitation system that led to the continual operation of a degraded component, resulting in significant equipment failure. Additionally, there were limited preventative maintenance, obsolescence issues that had not been addressed, limited knowledge of the exciter, and the design of the system lacked overcurrent protection/detection of the PPT. The station continued using the PPT after it was identified as degraded on June 11, 2014. When the smoking was first identified, the PPT was determined to be degraded, but could still perform its safety function due to the EDG satisfactorily performing its surveillances. 

The 'B' EOG was most likely inoperable from June 11, 2014 until October 9, 2014. During that time period, the 'A' EOG was taken out of service for maintenance on July 21, 2014, creating a condition where both trains may have been inoperable. When the 'A' and 'B' EDGs are inoperable, there are no remaining safety related on-site stand-by AC…

Junk Presidential Candidate Clinton?

I stand by my opinion, she doesn't know now to wheel power to make America better. She and her buddy husband know how to wheel power pretty good in order to get campaigne contributions and then build ex presidential Cathedrals.

Why do I get the idea ex president Clinton hasn't grown much in the ensuing years after his presidency...he is stuck in the same old image.   

New York nuclear plant's future further divides Sanders and Clinton 

Clinton: “I want the federal government to regulate much more toughly than we have in the past,” she said on Monday. 

In 2014 Cuomo signed a law that banned fracking in New York

Junk Plant Cook: "There were a few fires"

Transformer fails, oil spills at Cook

Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2016 6:00 am

Transformer fails, oil spills at Cook By HP Staff The Herald-Palladium | 0 comments

BRIDGMAN — Crews are cleaning up oil at the Cook Nuclear Plant after 2,000 gallons overflowed a berm after a transformer failure, plant officials reported Saturday. Plant spokesman Bill Schalk said there is no impact on production, the transmission grid or customers. Unit 1 is in a scheduled refueling outage and Unit 2 is continuing to produce at full capacity.

The large transformer, which failed Friday afternoon, is stationed between two transmission switchyards and holds 30,000 gallons of cooling oil, Schalk reported. Most of the spill was contained in the berm.

Cook Environmental Manager Jon Harner stated in the news release that none of the oil reached storm drains or Lake Michigan.

“We fully expect to recapture all of the oil and fully restore the area,” he said.

The Cook Fire Brigade, Indiana & Michigan Power Co. transmission workers and local fire departments monitored the transformer overnight as cleanup began, the plant reported. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Berrien County Emergency Management was notified.

“There were a few fires that were quickly extinguished as the transformer drained and cooled,” plant officials stated in a news release.


What caused the transformer failure has not been determined, the plant reported.

The Elephant In The Room: With Junk plants Indian Point’s Baffle-Former Bolts.

It takes extraordinarily rare and highly highly specialized skills to completely disassemble a core to inspect and replace the baffle bolts. It is going to be a black hole looking down the core barrel anyway you look at it. Who knows what you will find in theere?  I’d like to see waiting list for these expensive services. It is outside venders they have to bring into the plant.  

The question the NRC fears most is the blow back from the powerful politicians in congress. The times and risk demand the shutdown and inspections of numerous plants. How many plants do you want on the waiting list cooling their heels shutdown and losing millions of bucks a day? That is a lot persuasion campaign contribution bucks.  

***Best strategy for the NRC: delay, delay, delay and secrecy up the ying yang…

*** What Entergy fears most is information will trickle out little by little horrendously damaging the industry and themselves. So they want to disclose the least they can and get the bad news out all at one time.

 

Unable To Compete On Price, Nuclear Power On The Decline In The U.S. 

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  The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant sits along the banks of the Connecticut River in Vernon, Vt. It began operations in 1972 and was shut down at the end of 2014, the victim of competition from plants powered by abundant and cheap natural gas.

  Toby Talbot / AP

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  There are 100 commercial nuclear reactors licensed to operate. Link to a full list.

  U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is overseeing the decommissioning of 19 nuclear power reactors. Link to the full list.

  U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Originally published on April 7, 2016 8:11 pm 

Renewable energy and new technologies that are making low-carbon power more reliable are growing rapidly in the U.S. Renewables are so cheap in some parts of the country that they're undercutting the price of older sources of electricity such as nuclear power. 

The impact has been significant on the nuclear industry, and a growing number of unprofitable reactors are shutting down. 

When the first nuclear power plants went online 60 years ago, nuclear energy seemed like the next big thing.
In many ways, it lived up to that promise. It turned out to be remarkably safe and reliable and clean. It's carbon-free and is the source of about 20 percent of the country's electricity. 

But right from the start, people in the nuclear industry struggled with a big problem: cost. Making nuclear power cheap was the Holy Grail. 

It never panned out. Nuclear plants keep coming in over-budget. And after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011 — when three nuclear reactors melted down after an earthquake and tsunami hit — companies were forced to spend millions of dollars more on safety equipment to keep older plants operating. 

"It would be very difficult for any company to make a decision to try to build a new nuclear plant," says Mike Twomey, a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, which runs nuclear power plants. 

Entergy has already taken one unprofitable reactor offline in Vermont and plans to close two more plants that are losing money in upstate New York and Massachusetts.
In all, 19 nuclear reactors are undergoing decommissioning, of which five have been shut down in the past decade, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

The main reason behind the wave of closures is a new generation of cheap, gas-fired power plants that has pushed the wholesale price of electricity into the basement. 

But Mycle Schneider, a nuclear industry analyst, says nuclear also faces growing price pressure from wind and solar. Renewable energy is so cheap in some parts of the U.S. that it's even undercutting coal and natural gas.
"We are seeing really a radical shift in the competitive markets which leave nuclear power pretty much out in the rain," Schneider says. 

Over the past decade, no new nuclear power plants have begun commercial operations in the U.S.; the last reactor to start up in the U.S. was in Tennessee in 1996 (another unit at the same plant is expected to come online sometime later this year). 

There are a handful of new nuclear reactors under construction in the South, where energy markets are still highly regulated. Big power authorities there don't face the kind of head-to-head competition that has revolutionized energy markets in other parts of the country. 

But even within the nuclear industry itself, a growing number of experts agree that the U.S. has reached a pivot point, where new nuclear power plants are just too expensive. 

"We think that the costs of new nuclear right now are not competitive with other zero-carbon technologies, renewables and storage that we see in the marketplace," says Joe Dominguez, executive vice president for governmental and regulatory affairs and public policy at Exelon, a nuclear power company that has announced plans to close one of its existing reactors in New Jersey. 

Three other plants that are losing money in Illinois and upstate New York are also being reviewed for possible closure, Dominguez says. 

"Right now we just don't have any plans on the board to build any new reactors," he says. 

Companies like Exelon and Entergy hope state governments will agree to subsidize their existing reactors, paying a premium for low-carbon nuclear power in the same way they now subsidize wind and solar. 

The companies say the steady power generated by nuclear still pays an important role stabilizing the nation's energy grid.

But America's reactors are aging. The average is now 35 years old. With the new investment going to natural gas and increasingly to wind and solar, the old energy of the future may soon be eclipsed by the new energy of the future.