Unlimited Qualities of Natural Gas In The USA?

Oil! Massive shale discovery in Texas

Published  1:18 PM EDT Sep 08, 2016

An overlooked corner of West Texas is believed to contain billions of barrels of newly-discovered shale oil.

Apache (APA) revealed the huge find this week after more than two years of stealthily buying up land, extensive geological research and rigorous testing.  

The Houston company estimates the discovery, dubbed "Alpine High," could be worth at least $8 billion.

Apache believes the new shale play spans at least five formations, contains over three billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of rich natural gas.  

"We feel very confident with what we have and believe this is a story that's only going to get better," Apache CEO John Christmann IV told CNNMoney.  

Wall Street is already seeing dollar signs, sending Apache's stock price surging 10% in the two trading days since the find was unveiled.  

"The play has the potential to be a transformative event for the company," Raymond James analyst John Freeman wrote in a research report. "Apache sees an incredible opportunity to establish the next big resource play in the U.S."  

Apache Energy's huge shale oil discovery in West Texas, named "Alpine High," is estimated to contain three billion barrels of crude. 

Related: OPEC's dire finances fuel oil freeze talks 

Apache has identified at least 2,000 drilling locations, and estimates an initial value of between $4 million to $20 million per well. That translates to at least $8 billion in value for the company, but potentially a lot more. The company has already drilled 19 wells in the play, with nine currently producing "limited quantities" due to infrastructure constraints. 

Rob Thummel, a portfolio manager at energy investment firm Tortoise Capital, said the announcement will "definitely open investors' eyes" and could lead his firm to make an investment in Apache. 

However, Thummel also urged caution, noting that Apache's management team doesn't have the long track record of more established shale companies like EOG Resources (EOG) or Pioneer Energy. (PES) 

"It's going to be more of a prove-it story," Thummel said.
Christmann, the Apache boss, said his company looks forward to "proving the significance of this discovery over time." He added that the find is the result of "intense technical work," including 3D seismic research.  

Related: Oklahoma orders shutdown of wells after earthquake
So what's next? Apache will need to continue testing the land to decide where it makes the most sense to start drilling at current prices. Both oil and natural gas prices remain depressed due to a huge glut, mostly fueled by excessive shale production from the U.S. over the past decade.  

Apache will also need to build infrastructure to handle all the potential oil and gas coming out of Alpine High. The company is expected to install a temporary processing facility later this year and eventually build a more permanent presence. 

"Rome wasn't built in a day, neither are major oil and gas fields," Thummel said.

Heroin: I Think It Is The Foreign Drug Kingpins Blackmailing Us

Back off USA, or 10,000 people will drop dead in the streets in one week...

Coroner: Heroin dealers using Cincinnati as a 'test tube'

Published: 09/07/16 04:09 pm EDT.

CINCINNATI, Ohio

Authorities suspect the Cincinnati area has been treated as a "test tube" by heroin dealers for use of a powerful animal tranquilizer, a county coroner said on Tuesday.

Tests have confirmed carfentanil in the bodies of eight recent overdose casualties, Hamilton County's Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said, and more cases are suspected. The drug, used to sedate elephants, can be thousands of times stronger than morphine.

Sammarco said the sudden surge in overdose cases raised concerns that dealers wanted to see what would happen in a community when they mixed carfentanil with heroin or sold it outright.

"The very intense and focused spike brought up a lot of fears .... that our community was being used as a test tube," she said. "What are they learning from it? Are they looking to see how many people it's going to kill or how quickly our first responders can respond? And how many customers is that going to generate for them?"

Authorities have said nearly 300 overdoses have been reported in the Cincinnati area since Aug. 19, with 174 reported in a six-day period. Communities in West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana also saw overdose spikes in recent weeks.

Carfentanil has been blamed in other overdose surges, such as in Akron this summer. Cincinnati area authorities warned publicly in July that carfentanil was beginning to show up locally.

Sammarco said the office of Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman reached out to the Cleveland Zoo and the Summit County coroner's office to help her obtain carfentanil samples for testing. She said more overdose cases since July are being reviewed for carfentanil.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials have said they believe much of the carfentanil is being shipped from China to Mexico, where traffickers are mixing it with heroin and other drugs such as the painkiller fentanyl.

Cincinnati firefighters said they sometimes had to use multiple doses of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone to save users during the spike.

Heroin at Home: An Ohio Epidemic

Newtown police Chief Tom Synan, who heads the Hamilton County Drug Coalition task force, said Tuesday he wants Ohio to declare an emergency and free up more resources to help local authorities cope.

"We're bleeding profusely, and we need a tourniquet," Synan said.

A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. John Kasich, Emmalee Kalmbach, said the state is continuing to work with Cincinnati area officials to strengthen prevention, treatment and other resources.

"Making progress in our fight against drug abuse requires a determined, community-based commitment and a shared purpose that brings all of us together to find and implement the right solutions," Kalmbach said.

The state last week expedited a shipment of naloxone to Cincinnati to rebuild supplies as the spike slowed.

©2016 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Junk Plant Grand Gulf-Continued Terrible Capacity Factor

They are losing money hands over fist. Bet you it is run to failure...

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52225
Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4 State: MS Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: SEAN DUNFEE HQ OPS Officer: JEFF ROTTON	Notification Date: 09/08/2016 Notification Time: 04:27 [ET] Event Date: 09/08/2016 Event Time: 03:00 [CDT] Last Update Date: 09/08/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(i) - PLANT S/D REQD BY TS	Person (Organization): THOMAS HIPSCHMAN (R4DO)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
1	N	Y	100	Power Operation	82	Power Operation

Event Text

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION SHUTDOWN DUE TO LOSS OF RESIDUAL HEAT REMOVAL PUMP "On September 4, 2016 at 0258 [CDT], Grand Gulf Nuclear Station entered three [Technical Specification] Limiting Conditions for Operations (LCOs) due to residual heat removal pump 'A' (RHR 'A') being declared inoperable. "LCOs entered: 1) 3.5.1 for one low pressure ECCS injection/spray subsystem, 2) 3.6.1.7 for one RHR containment spray subsystem, and 3) 3.6.2.3 for one RHR suppression pool cooling subsystem. "Station management has made the decision to shutdown the plant to repair the RHR 'A' pump prior to the end of the 7 day LCO completion time based on troubleshooting and testing performed on the RHR 'A' pump. "Grand Gulf Nuclear Station initiated plant shutdown required by Tech Spec Actions 3.5.1, 3.6.1.7, and 3.6.2.3, at 0300 CDT on 09/08/2016 due to expected inability to restore RHR 'A' to operable status prior to exceeding the LCO time of 7 days." The unit is currently at 82 percent power. There are no other systems out of service that would complicate the orderly shutdown to Mode 4. The licensee will notify the NRC Resident Inspector.

Junk Plant Polo Verde Has A Special Way To Discover Maintenence Problems.

Basically setting up for maintenance issue then uncovering two additional maintenance problems not detected by the plant.

1) Seems something is wrong the breakers during the bus transfer. There are a lot of breaker problems in the industry. Was the busses in synch upon the transfer? Big chance of a electrical explosion.

2) The stuck open relief valve. The is what caused TMI. 

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52226
Facility: PALO VERDE Region: 4 State: AZ Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] CE,[2] CE,[3] CE NRC Notified By: MIKE JONES HQ OPS Officer: DANIEL MILLS	Notification Date: 09/08/2016 Notification Time: 04:27 [ET] Event Date: 09/07/2016 Event Time: 21:31 [MST] Last Update Date: 09/08/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL	Person (Organization): THOMAS HIPSCHMAN (R4DO)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
1	M/R	Y	100	Power Operation	0	Hot Standby

Event Text

MANUAL REACTOR TRIP DUE TO STUCK OPEN PRESSURIZER MAIN SPRAY VALVE "On September 7th, 2016 at approximately 2131 Mountain Standard Time (MST), Palo Verde Unit 1 was manually tripped due to a stuck open main spray valve. Unit 1 was operating at 100 percent power at normal operating temperature and pressure prior to the event. A 120 VAC non-class instrument distribution panel was being transferred to its alternate power supply to establish maintenance conditions. The distribution panel failed to transfer. The panel remained energized from its normal power supply; however, multiple components powered from the distribution panel began to exhibit uncharacteristic behavior. At this time, it was noted that a reactor coolant system main spray valve was open. The alarm response procedure was followed; however, the actions taken were unsuccessful at closing the main spray valve. The plant was then manually tripped due to pressurizer pressure continuing to lower. The reactor coolant pumps were turned off to terminate main pressurizer spray flow to control pressurizer pressure due to the inability to close the main spray valve. No ESF [Engineered Safety Features] actuations occurred and none were required. No emergency classification was required per the emergency plan. Safety related buses remained energized during and following the reactor trip. The emergency diesel generators did not start and were not required. The offsite power grid is stable. Limiting condition for operation 3.4.1 was entered due to low pressurizer pressure. No major equipment was inoperable prior to the event that contributed to the event. "Unit 1 is stable at normal operating temperature and pressure in Mode 3. Reactor coolant pumps are secured and natural circulation has been verified. Primary pressure is being maintained at its normal operating pressure manually with pressurizer heaters and auxiliary spray, from the charging system. The event did not result in any challenges to fission product barriers and there were no adverse safety consequences as a result of this event. The minimum RCS pressure was approximately 2070 psia (normal 2250). The event did not adversely affect the safe operation of the plant or the health and safety of the public." All rods inserted and the trip was uncomplicated. Units 2 and 3 were not affected and continue to run at full power. The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified.

Junk Plants Salem 1&2 Stuck At 60% For two Days.

Man, its a long and troublesome summer for these guys?

Hope keeps chugging along...

Junk and Dead Ender Oyster Creek Plant-91% Power For A Week

You got to be careful this time of year with plants not at 100% power. The plants might to heading to a refueling outage and power is slowing going down as they run out of fuel.

Junk Plant Pilgrim Second Scram On Ocean High Temperature Cycling

Update

Neal told me, in fact, there are two separate 23 kilovolts lines going into Pilgrim. One going to waste treatment plant and the other attached to the emergency shutdown transformer. Within a few weeks both shorted and created a small brush fire in the owner controlled area. Neal didn't seem to think there is a connection to each grounded event. I Told him if I worked a Pilgrim or the NRC, I'd be digging as hard as I could looking for a connection or link to both events. He said he would pass that onto the resident.

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Following Valve Problem

September 6, 2016

PLYMOUTH – The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth experienced an unplanned shutdown this morning, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A statement from the agency said it was caused by a high water level resulting from a problem with a regulating valve.

Water is pumped into the reactor so that it can be boiled, converted to steam and then piped to the turbine to generate electricity.

The NRC said their onsite inspectors responded to observe operator responses and verify the safe shutdown of the plant just after 8:30 a.m. 

Feed water regulation valve malfunctions are the types of problems you expect to see with jumping up and down in power.

Spokesman Neil Sheehan said plant owner Entergy will need to identify the cause of the valve fluctuations and make any needed repairs before the reactor can return to service.  
It’s just the latest equipment issue with the troubled plant that is listed as one of the worst in the nation by the NRC.

On Monday, the plant’s power was reduced to 90 percent because of elevated water intake temperatures. 

I believe they use the 23 kilovolt line as a backup electricity source if the lose all electricity at the site. It is a value safety system. 

There was also a downed tree on the 23-kilovolt power line to the plant’s waste-treatment facility on Sunday evening which caused a small fire near Rocky Hill Road.

The NRC said the line outage did not impact any safety-related equipment at the plant.

Entergy announced last year that they would close Pilgrim by 2019

Junk Plant And Grossly Obsolete Dresden HPIC Questions

Update

Talked to the senior: They basically had resistors needing adjustment for the particular duty...they shot themselves in the foot by not doing the pre use adjustment. They are other troubles with component. GE procures the motor from another vendor...


Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3 Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-25 NRG Docket No. 50-249

Subject: Licensee Event Report 249/2016-001-00, Alert Declared from Unit 3 HPCI Auxiliary Oil Pump Motor Fire

See, poor maintenance leads to a failure, then the new motor fails almost emediately. This is a repeated pattern throughout the industry…

Think about all the intermediaries the motor components are made from.

Why wasn’t there a LER written out for the 2015 event?  

2016-001-00 -The Root Cause of the HPCI AOP motor failure is inadequate control of critical parameters when installing a DC shunt wound motor. The Failure Mechanism was high armature current with a stalled rotor. The Contributing Cause of the HPCI AOP motor failure is historical motor procurement evaluation standards were not rigorous enough. 

Previous Occurrences:
In 2015, the U3 HPCI AOP motor failed during planned maintenance due to carbon dust buildup inside the motor as a result of inadequate cleaning and inspection of the motor and commutator.

Junk Plant Salem/ Hope Creek: These Guys Are A Distrace

So something besides the charging pump leak caused the downpower. At least unit 2 is on the way up?

Friday (late Thursday)
unit 1 60%
unit 2 0%

Monday
unit 1 60%
unit 2 2%

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52222
Facility: SALEM Region: 1 State: NJ Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP NRC Notified By: MIKE BRUMMITT HQ OPS Officer: STEVEN VITTO	Notification Date: 09/03/2016 Notification Time: 12:47 [ET] Event Date: 09/03/2016 Event Time: 09:02 [EDT] Last Update Date: 09/03/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(B) - UNANALYZED CONDITION	Person (Organization): RAY POWELL (R1DO)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
1	N	Y	60	Power Operation	60	Power Operation

Event Text

UNIDENTIFIED LEAKAGE GREATER THAN TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS "At 0902 EDT, on September 3, 2016, a leak developed from 13 Charging Pump seals that resulted in an unidentified leak rate of 1.3 gpm. Salem Unit 1 entered Technical Specification 3.4.6.2.b for unidentified leakage greater than 1 gpm. The Technical Specification requires the leak rate to be restored to below 1 gpm in a 4 hour period or place the Unit in Hot Standby in the next 6 hours and Cold Shutdown within the following 30 hours. In addition there is an allowable total ECCS leakage outside of Containment value of 0.45 gpm associated with Control Room habitability to comply with GDC-19 [General Design Criteria] limits. 12 Charging Pump was placed in service and 13 Charging Pump was removed from service and isolated. The unidentified leak rate lowered to below the 0.45gpm requirement for the total ECCS leakage outside of containment and the Technical Specification value of 1 gpm. "This event is being reported under the requirements of 10CFR50.72(b)(3)(ii)(B) as 'the nuclear power plant being in an unanalyzed condition that significantly degrades plant safety' for exceeding the 0.45gpm total ECCS leakage allowable in accordance with GDC-19 limitations. "The Licensee has notified the NRC Resident and the Lower Alloways Creek Township."

FBI Crime Data and Hinsdale, NH

The Hinsdale ex police chief hit me up with the Hinsdale, NH crime stats or data. "It seen no rise in crime" is what he said. Any professional level police executive would tell you the FBI's crime data isn't auditable. Its a totally voluntary system, there is political fallout if you report the bad news of crime. Plus the police don't have the money to report all crime to the FBI.   

The Boston Globe is writing this up in a controversial prose in order the boost circulation.  A ethical paper would have disclosed the shortcoming of the FBI's crime data and pounder if the data was trustable.

Stats on drugs, race refute Maine governor

PORTLAND, Maine — No law enforcement statistics even come close to backing up Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s assertion that blacks and Hispanics account for ‘‘90-plus percent’’ of heroin-trafficking arrests in Maine.

LePage, who previously told the Portland NAACP chapter to ‘‘kiss my butt’’ and blamed out-of-state drug dealers for impregnating ‘‘young white’’ girls, sparked another racial uproar when he said Aug. 24 that data he’d collected indicates out-of-state black and Hispanics accounted for ‘‘90-plus percent’’ of heroin-trafficking arrests in Maine.

FBI data contradict his assertion, and a criminologist called the governor’s data ‘‘laughable.’’ Meanwhile, members of the African-American community in Maine, the whitest state, fear his comments strengthen racial stereotypes and tacitly approve of racial profiling.

‘‘I think this fear-mongering, and these us-against-them kind of statements, do not advance the community conversation, do not address the real issue of drug abuse,’’ said the Rev. Kenneth I. Lewis Jr., pastor at the Green Memorial A.M.E. Church, Maine’s oldest African-American congregation, in Portland.

The Maine Department of Public Safety doesn’t include race when compiling and analyzing crime data. And the most recent crime data from the FBI suggest the governor’s claim doesn’t pass muster.

The FBI data show that blacks accounted for 14 percent of a total of 1,211 drug sale and manufacturing arrests and 7.4 percent of 5,791 total drug arrests in Maine in 2014, the most recent numbers available.

Broken down by type of offense, the data showed that blacks accounted for 35.5 percent of arrests for selling opium-derived drugs including heroin, morphine and cocaine, and 26 percent when synthetic narcotics including most prescription narcotics were included in the tally. The FBI doesn’t include a category for Hispanics in its statistics...

 

Hinsdale Heroin and the Phony Treatment Scam

 The heroin treatment sucks around here...

Michael Mulligan <steamshovel2002@yahoo.com>

To Xander Landen

Aug 17 at 1:19 PM

Everything by the politicians is treatment, treatment, treatment in the media today. It been like that for years. The heroin addiction problem is very expensive for the town's police, the courts and jails. It is debilitating to town and city budget across the state. There is now an enormous wait to get into treatment. The more the politicians are talking their solution to the heroin problem is treatment, the longer the waiting time  is to get into treatment. NH is one of the worst states in the nation with taking care of the mentally ill. It is basically warehousing addicts as a way to save money.

I think this is basically a ploy by all the politicians to talk up “I am fixing the heroin problem by treatment treatment up the ying yang to gain votes. But behind the scene, the ideological politicians don’t want to jack up funding for high quality treatment to get ahead of the ball because they hate everything government. It’s all political penny ante talky, talky bs, with no intention to raise the budgets to deal with the problem. There are now a lot of fly-by-night heroin and addiction treatment center operators who are just out to make big bucks in a crisis.  They have no real skills and education to deal with this intractable problem.

What a joke for addicts, 28 day treatment... 

Mayor-appointed drug solutions committee releases final report before dissolving

Posted: Saturday, September 3, 2016 8:00 am

Mayor-appointed drug solutions committee releases final report before dissolving

By Xander Landen Sentinel Staff SentinelSource.com

Keene does not have enough treatment facilities and licensed alcohol and drug counselors to meet demand from addicts seeking help, according to a new report by Keene’s ad-hoc Committee on Drug Addiction Solutions.

In a separate action earlier that afternoon, Fire Chief Mark F. Howard offered another sobering glimpse of the crisis. In August, two more people in the city died of opioid overdoses, according to the latest data Howard releases each month.

Presenting the report at Thursday's meeting was the committee’s last task after spending a year investigating the impact of the opioid epidemic in Keene and identifying gaps in local resources for preventing and treating addiction.

Mayor Kendall W. Lane appointed the committee — comprised of local law enforcement officers, doctors, substance abuse counselors and public officials — after the City Council voted for him to do so in the spring of 2014.

Keene Police Chief Brian Costa, a committee member, said the committee's dissolution doesn't mean members think their work is done.

Costa said ad-hoc committees last only one year, but both the members and the community at large won't be any less dedicated to fighting the crisis.

“There’s an absolute need — not interest — in continuing this work. ... I think I guaranteed (the City Council) that this work would continue whether or not this committee was in existence,” Costa told The Sentinel.

Committee members stressed during their presentation that Keene offers limited treatment options for people struggling with substance abuse disorders.

According to the committee’s report, medical detoxification, medication-assisted treatment, 28-day

28 day treatment is basically criminal behavior  by the system for Heroin addiction. We are talking upwards of a year and a half to two years of intensive . And Axander doesn't even ask of the proper question of how long should the treatment be.

residential treatment programs and residential treatment programs longer than four weeks are all services that are “very limited or not available” in Keene.

The report didn't specify which types of treatment are completely unavailable in the city or to what extent other treatment options are limited.

Committee member Dr. Jose Montero, vice president of population health and health system integration at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, said more needs to be done to expand services for drug addicts. 

“We know that we do not have enough places where people with these chronic conditions, these drug disorders, can go to be diagnosed, to be treated,” said Montero, who was formerly public health director for the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services. 

And data on overdose deaths in Keene support the argument.  

Between 2000 and 2011, there were 21 fatal drug overdoses in Keene, according to Costa.

The latest statistics from Howard show that five people have died so far this year from opioid overdoses. Two were in the past three weeks, Costa said.

Last month also saw a slight uptick in the number of recorded overdoses for which Keene firefighters used the opioid antagonist drug Narcan. 

In August, the Keene Fire Department administered Narcan to 10 people in likely opioid overdoses. This tally is higher than the average so far for 2016 of about seven patients per month.  

Part of what limits access to treatment in Keene is a small workforce trained and licensed to treat drug addicts, according to Montero.

There are only 15 licensed alcohol and drug counselors practicing throughout the city, according to the report.

Worsening the strain is Medicaid expansion and expanded reimbursement under commercial health insurance, which have encouraged an increase in demand for addiction and recovery services, the report says.

Treatment options in Keene “have not grown at nearly the same pace” as that demand, according to the report.

Another challenge to expanding treatment options and services in the city is there are no hard statistics for how many people in Keene need treatment, Montero said. 

“We don’t know how many patients are waiting in a long-term framework so we can ... plan for what type of expansions those services need,” he said.

The committee has heard anecdotal information about people waiting between two and eight weeks to get a bed in local treatment facilities, but members don’t know the total number of people waiting to get into services like residential treatment, Montero said.

Keene should create a centralized service where drug addicts can go to be treated for the variety of issues they face, according to Montero; aside from their addictions, he noted, addicts often face a variety of physical and mental health problems.

“We need to figure out a better system to provide care for all of those different situations, hopefully in one place,” he said.

While the report pointed out gaps in Keene's resources to tackle the opioid crisis, it also acknowledged effective efforts the city and community organizations have made in recent years. 

It mentioned how Narcan is more accessible to law enforcement agencies and community health centers than ever before, how there is a push for more recovery-coach training and how a Heroin Anonymous group launched in June. 

Costa also lauded work Keene is already doing to help streamline treatment for those who want get into recovery.

He spoke about the Cheshire County Addiction Assistance and Recovery Initiative (ChAARI) which launched in May as part of Southwestern Community Services’ Coordinated Access Point Program (CAPP). The program is an 18-month pilot, focused on providing support to addicts who want to start their recovery.

ChAARI established a 24/7 hotline number that first responders can call to get a trained recovery coach dispatched to the emergency room at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene to help people begin addiction treatment.

ChAARI has received substantial financial support from the community, which shows how dedicated Keene is to fighting the opioid crisis, according to Costa. 

"The end result for the police department, like everybody else, is to get people off this stuff," he said, "so that crimes come down and families come back home."

Xander Landen can be reached at 352-1234 ext. 1420 or at xlanden@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @XLandenKS

US Nuclear Plants Catastrophic 51% Increase Of Outages From Last Year?

   

September 1, 2016  

U.S. nuclear outages this summer were higher than in summer 2015

U.S. nuclear power plant outages have been higher this summer (June through August), averaging 4.3 gigawatts (GW), or 51% more than in 2015. Summer outages were at their highest in June, reaching 9.9 GW, or about 10% of total U.S. nuclear capacity, on June 17 and averaging 6.2 GW for the month. Outages dropped to an average of 4.4 GW in July and 2.4 GW in August.
Nuclear power plants, which provide baseload generation, account for nearly 20% of total U.S. electricity generation on an annual basis. Nuclear power plants provide power at a steady rate rather than in response to daily or hourly fluctuations in electricity demand. Nuclear outages typically arise from refueling and maintenance, power uprates, and unplanned shutdowns. EIA's Status of Nuclear Outages maps the generating capacity and outage status of each nuclear plant in the United States each day. Nuclear outages reached the lowest level since 2007 last year, when outages totaled just 0.1 GW during four days in August 2015.
Nuclear power plants typically refuel every 18 to 24 months during fall or spring. Other noncritical maintenance work is often scheduled at the same time as refueling to minimize downtime. In the early 1990s, refueling-related outages lasted about 12 weeks. More recently, refueling outage durations have been reduced to fewer than six weeks…

Junk Plants Salem 1 & 2 and Hope Creek: The Second Largest Nuke Facility In USA Train Wreck

Unit 1 seems to be heading to a shutdown at 10% power last night and Unit 2 is shutdown...

By Bill Gallo Jr. | For NJ.com Today's Sunbeam
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 01, 2016 at 2:54 PM, updated September 01, 2016 at 3:53 PM

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP. — Pump problems have caused the shutdown of one of PSEG Nuclear's reactors and a cut in electrical production at another, an official says.

Both of the reactors are located at PSEG Nuclear's generating complex on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek Township.

Salem 2 automatically shut down Wednesday at 3:13 p.m. after one of the reactor coolant pumps tripped offline according to Joe Delmar, spokesman for PSEG Nuclear.

The reactor has four of the pumps which circulate water to cool the nuclear reactor. All four must be in service for the reactor to run.

Officials from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the operations of the nation's nuclear reactors, are monitoring the situation according to NRC Spokesman Neil Sheehan.

He said it appears that the pump shutdown may have been caused by water leaking onto the pump's electrical system from a cooling unit inside the reactor containment building.

The Early Site Permit issued to PSEG Nuclear is good for 20 years, but numerous other approvals would first be needed for a new reactor to be built.

The Salem 2 reactor is already under heightened NRC scrutiny because of a number of unplanned shutdowns in the past year.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Salem 1 reactor was operating at around 47 percent power Thursday because of an issue with one of the feed pumps on the unit's steam generator.

The unit has two feed pumps which pump water from the condenser back to the steam generator. The plant can continue to operate with just one of those pumps in service.

Delmar said technicians were working to determine the cause of the problem and fix it.

He said there was no estimate when Salem 1 could be ramped back up to full power.

A third reactor operated by PSEG Nuclear at Artificial Island, Hope Creek, remains at full power Thursday, Delmar said

Junks Plants Watts Junk Capacity Factors?

 
This is so embarrassing for the industry. Unit 1 has borrowed Sequoyah LP turbine to stay up at reduced power…Now both Watts Bar plants have been knocked off line because of the poor quality of the Unit 2’s new transformer. 

TVA idles both Watts Bar reactors

Transformer fire forces plant shutdown for assessment

September 1st, 2016

Less than two days after a transformer fire forced TVA's newest reactor to shut down, the other reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant was also shut down today to help plant workers perform needed tests and equipment repairs in the switchyard following the Tuesday night blaze.

TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the Unit 1 reactor at Watts Bar was idled to allow plant workers to safely assess the main bank transformers and other equipment without the switchyard being energized with electricity.

"The safest way to do the assessment we need to do is to de-energize the switchyard and the only way to that is to take the unit off line," Hopson said. "We wanted to ensure the safety of our employees while they do this necessary work."

Hopson said TVA hopes to complete the evaluation and to be able to restart the Unit 1 reactor "within a few days." But in the meantime, TVA is getting no power from either reactors at Watts Bar even as summertime temperatures keep power demand relatively high in the Tennessee Valley.

It is unclear when TVA may be able to restart its Unit 2 reactor.

During high-demand periods, TVA generates nearly $1 million a day worth of power from each of its nuclear units.

TVA was in the midst of a series of power ascension tests on its new Unit 2 reactor on Tuesday when a fire erupted in a main bank transformer on the non-nuclear side of Watts Bar. The fire triggered a trip of the Unit 2 reactor, which was operating at about 99 percent of its rated 1,150-megawatt capacity at the time.

TVA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission crews are still evaluating the cause of the fire and any corrective actions TVA needs to take to ensure the safety of the plant when it resumes power generation. The fire-damaged transformer will be replaced with one of the spare units on site at Watts Bar, Hopson said.

TVA began limited power generation from the Unit 2 reactor at Watts Bar in May. The unit is the first new reactor added to America's power grid in 20 years. But the newest unit has not yet achieved full power and has yet to officially be declared a commercial reactor and brought into TVA's rate base.

That achievement, which TVA said earlier this year should occur by June, now appears unlikely until next month at the earliest. That will push the start of the capital recovery for the $5 billion reactor into fiscal 2017.

Junk Plant Salem, Hope Creek: Here We Go Again With Aother Trip

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52213
Facility: SALEM Region: 1 State: NJ Unit: [ ] [2] [ ] RX Type: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP NRC Notified By: JOHN OSBORNE HQ OPS Officer: MARK ABRAMOVITZ	Notification Date: 08/31/2016 Notification Time: 18:12 [ET] Event Date: 08/31/2016 Event Time: 15:11 [EDT] Last Update Date: 08/31/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION	Person (Organization): RAY POWELL (R1DO)

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

Event Text

AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP ON LOW REACTOR COOLANT FLOW "This 4-hour and 8-hour notification is being made to report that Salem Unit 2 had an unplanned automatic reactor trip and automatic actuation of the auxiliary feedwater system. The trip occurred due to the loss of the 21 reactor coolant pump [RCP] resulting in a reactor trip on low reactor coolant flow. The 21 RCP remains unavailable. The cause of the loss of the 21 reactor coolant pump is unknown at this time. "All control rods inserted on the reactor trip. All emergency core cooling systems and engineered safety feature systems functioned as expected. The auxiliary feed pumps started as expected. "Salem Unit 2 is currently in Mode 3. Reactor coolant system pressure is at 2235 psig and temperature is 547 degrees Fahrenheit with decay heat removal via the main steam dumps and auxiliary feedwater systems. Unit 2 has no active technical specification action statements in effect requiring a lower mode of operation due to the transient. "The 21 and 22 containment fan coil units (CFCU) were out of service for surveillance testing prior to the event. There was no major secondary equipment tagged for maintenance prior to the event. There were no personnel injuries as a result of this event. "Normal offsite power is available to the site. There is no effect on Unit 1." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

Junk Plant Watts Bar 2: Shutdown Indefinitely Over Exploding Transformer

Why did they use the word indefinitely? Is it something the NRC said.

So they were heading up to 100%, then the Main transformer blew up.  
Now how big was the staff cut by TVA to nuclear side of the business?

All the way up for the first time to 98% power, then boom!

Transformer fire forces TVA to shut down Unit 2 reactor indefinitely

TVA probes cause of switchyard fire at Watts Bar Monday night

The Tennessee Valley Authority today is trying to determine the cause of a fire in the switchyard of its Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant that started around 9:11 p.m.Monday night and took TVA fire crews about an hour to extinguish.

The blaze in one of the main bank transformers connected to the new Unit 2 reactor triggered notice of "an unusual event" — the lowest of four emergency classifications for problems at a nuclear power plant. Although the fire did not affect any nuclear or generation equipment in either the reactor or turbine buildings at Watts Bar, it did damage a transformer and required TVA to shut down its Unit 2 reactor indefinitely, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said today.

"Nobody was injured and there was no risk the the public from the fire, but we are still evaluating the cause and assessing the damage," Hopson said.

TVA declared the unusual event Monday night but exited the notice by 11:40 p.m. after the fire was extinguished about 10:20 p.m. and TVA was later able to verify that all parts of the plant performed as expected during and after the reactor trip.

Because the transformers are cooled by oil and operate in a switchyard dispatching up to 2,200 megawatts of electricity when the units are at full power, TVA called upon three volunteer fire departments in Rhea and Meigs counties to help with the fire response. TVA fire crews put out the fire, Hopson said, and the Unit 1 reactor at Watts Bar was not affected by the fire.

But the transformer fire and the unusual event notification triggered an alert to both state emergency agencies and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is now reviewing the incident.

TVA was in the process of bringing the Unit 2 reactor up to 100 percent power for the first time when the fire broke out Monday night. The unit 2 reactor at Watts Bar is the first new nuclear unit to be added to America's electric grid in more than 20 years and began limited power generation in May.

TVA had originally budgeted to have the unit 2 online at full power by the middle of 2016, but that schedule has slipped and TVA had to increase its capital budget for the work at the plant from $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion earlier this year.

TVA brought the Unit 2 reactor up to 75 percent power in early August and last week idled the unit for what officials had hoped would be the last time before the unit was brought to full power as part of a series of power ascension tests for the new reactor.

The main bank transformers take high-voltage power generated by the reactors and convert the power for distribution into the plant switchyard, where the electricity can then be dispatched across TVA's transmission lines to local power companies across TVA's 7-state region. 

When the fire erupted, the reactor had to be shut down and the unit will remain idle until a new transformer is installed and the cause of the fire is determined.

Junk Plant Watts Bar 2 Main Transformer Explosion, Can You Believe This New Plant Dog? To top of page

Wonder how old the transformer was? It sounds like they controlled SG level well.

They called in the outside 3 fire department?

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52210
Facility: WATTS BAR Region: 2 State: TN Unit: [ ] [2] [ ] RX Type: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP NRC Notified By: CHARLES BROESCHE HQ OPS Officer: MARK ABRAMOVITZ	Notification Date: 08/30/2016 Notification Time: 21:49 [ET] Event Date: 08/30/2016 Event Time: 21:20 [EDT] Last Update Date: 08/31/2016
Emergency Class: UNUSUAL EVENT 10 CFR Section: 50.72(a) (1) (i) - EMERGENCY DECLARED	Person (Organization): JONATHAN BARTLEY (R2DO) CATHY HANEY (R2RA) BRIAN McDERMOTT (NRR) BERNARD STAPLETON (IRD) CHRIS MILLER (NRR)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
2	A/R	Y	98	Power Operation	0	Hot Standby

Event Text

NOTICE OF UNUSUAL EVENT - FIRE IN A MAIN BANK TRANSFORMER A fault occurred on the unit 2 "B" main bank transformer resulting in an oil fire. The main turbine tripped resulting in a reactor trip. All control rods fully inserted and no safety or relief valves lifted. Decay heat is being removed via steam dumps to the main condenser and feeding steam generators with auxiliary feedwater. Electrical power is through the normal shutdown electrical lineup. Offsite assistance was requested from the county and off duty fire brigade members. At 2228, the fire was reported as out. Spray is continuing and a reflash watch is being set. Unit 1 continued to operate at 100% power throughout the event. Notified the DHS SWO, FEMA Ops Center, DHS NICC, FEMA National Watch Center (E-mail) and Nuclear SSA (E-mail). * * * UPDATE AT 2352 EDT ON 08/30/2016 FROM MICHAEL BOTTORFF TO JEFF HERRERA * * * "On August 30, 2016, at 2110 EDT, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 reactor tripped due to an electrical fault affecting the 2B Main Bank Transformer, resulting in a fire in the transformer. "Concurrent with the reactor trip, the Auxiliary Feedwater system actuated as designed. "All Control and Shutdown rods fully inserted. All safety systems responded as designed. The unit is currently stable in Mode 3, with decay heat removal via Auxiliary Feedwater and main steam dump systems. Unit 2 is in a normal shutdown electrical alignment. "The fire was out at 2230 EDT. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. "The fire was reported at 2149 EDT. Local Fire Departments responded to the site as requested. "The reactor trip and system actuation is being reported under 10CFR50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) and 10CFR50.72 (b)(2)(iv)(B). "There was no effect on WBN Unit 1. "The NOUE was exited at 2342. "The NRC Senior Resident Inspector has been notified." The Licensee notified the State of Tennessee. Notified the R2DO (Bartley), IRD MOC (Stapleton), NRR EO (Miller), DHS SWO, FEMA Ops Center, DHS NICC, FEMA National Watch Center (E-mail) and Nuclear SSA (E-mail).

Junk Plant Fermi 2: About 50% power for 5 days

Didn't I have prior issues with this plant?

Heroin In Hinsdale, NH

Update 8/31:The hard drugs from Lawrence and Lowell comes from Dominican Republic heroin Kingpins. They bring in from their Island slum dummies to make a hit on their competitors and anyone else who gets in their way. They are very smart.

 “Nobody wants to listen,” LePage told the News Service in an interview between panel talks. “What I said was this: Meth lab arrests are white. They’re Mainers. The heroin-fentanyl arrests are not white people. They’re Hispanic and they’re black and they’re from Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, Waterbury, Connecticut, the Bronx and Brooklyn. I didn’t make up the rules. That’s how it turns out. But that’s a fact. It’s a fact. What? Do you want me to lie?”

Junk Plant Watts Bar 2: Simulator Training and Fidility Sucks?

These are the guys with safety culture problems and the NRC is concerned TVA employees are talking to me.

Licensee Event Report 391/2016-005-00, Main Feedwater Pump Trip on Loss of Condenser Vacuum Leads to Turbine Trip and Reactor Trip

On June 20,2016, the 28 Main Feedwater Pump (MFP) {EllS:P} kipped on a loss of vacuum in the 28 MFP turbine condenser, resulting in a loss of normalfeed {El|S:SJ}, and the subsequent trip of the main turbine. While operators were reducing power to within the capacity of Auxiliary

Feedwater (AFW) {EllS:BA} , the reactor tripped at 1540 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Steam Generator Water Level (SGWL) Lo Lo in Steam Generator No.4. SG water level lowered rapidly due to shrink from the relatively cold AFW following the trip.

The cause(s) and circumstances for each human performance related root cause. 

Operations staff did not recognlze that, based on the system alignment present shown in Figure 1, that lowering the 2A MFPT condenser below a certain point would cause a loss of vacuum on the 28 MFPT condenser. Additionally, when taking manual control of steam generator water level, the TTDs for steam generator level were already actuated, and operators should have manually tripped the reactor prior to reaching an automatic trip. The MFPT Condensers for the 2A and 28 MFPs share a common MFPT Condenser Drain Tank. When AUOs drained the 2A MFPT Condenser completely, an air in leakage path was created from the turbine steam seals on the 2A MFPT (steam seals were out of service) through the 2A MFPT Condenser to the MFPT Condenser Drain Tank to the 28 MFPT condenser (see Figure 1). This resulted in a loss of vacuum on the 28 MFPT Condenser and a trip of the 28 MFPT.

Loss of the 28 MFP led to a main turbine trip. Operations attempted to reduce power such that the AFW system could maintain SG level, but were unsuccessful.