Junk Arkansas Unit 2:Power Plant Maintenence Incompetence

incompetence

I talked to the NRC inspector on this. This is called gross maintenance incompetence. They did a 24 hour test on the DG around Sept 14. The test failed. Then they had 14 day before they had to shutdown according to TS.  Fourteen days then came and gone, that is what forced them to shutdown. Basically another 20 days passed to today. They are still shutdown...

Its crazy...

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52267
Facility: ARKANSAS NUCLEAR Region: 4 State: AR Unit: [ ] [2] [ ] RX Type: [1] B&W-L-LP,[2] CE NRC Notified By: ALBERT MARTIN HQ OPS Officer: STEVE SANDIN	Notification Date: 09/28/2016 Notification Time: 09:46 [ET] Event Date: 09/28/2016 Event Time: 07:45 [CDT] Last Update Date: 09/28/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(i) - PLANT S/D REQD BY TS	Person (Organization): JEREMY GROOM (R4DO)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
2	N	Y	100	Power Operation	65	Power Operation

Event Text

UNIT 2 SHUTDOWN REQUIRED BY TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS DUE TO INOPERABLE DIESEL GENERATOR "On September 16, 2016, at 0036 [CDT], during a 24-hour Technical Specification (TS) endurance run, the Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 (ANO-2) red train Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG) became inoperable when its inboard generator bearing failed. ANO-2 TS 3.8.1.1, 'AC Sources', requires an inoperable EDG to be restored to service within 14 days or actions to place the unit in a shutdown condition initiated. "It has been determined that repair options cannot be completed within the Allowed Outage Time (AOT) due to unforeseen circumstances which evolved during recovery efforts. At 0745 [CDT], ANO-2 initiated plant shutdown due to the inability to restore the red train EDG. ANO-2 will be shutdown and cooled down to Mode 5." The licensee informed the NRC Resident Inspectors.

Entergy’s New Nuclear Philosophy: Two Broken Plants, Just Fix One At A Time

Unit 1: temporally shutdown due to crack in one-inch pipe.

Unit 2: normal refueling. All work now stopped on unit 2.

So just think how costly this is. We are talking about a million to two million dollars a day shutdown cost let alone the other cost on one plant. They must have to extend the outage on unit 2. This is a terrible sign of corporate financial weakness...

They stopped all refueling activities on unit 2 to focus all their resources on getting unit 1 back on the line. Entergy doesn’t have the resources to do two simultaneous shutdown maintenance periods at the 2 unit ANO? Yep, cooper is in outage? These two plant have the worst record in the industry?   

Junk Plant Arkansas 1?

So Grand Gulf, Arkansas 1&2 are currently in shutdown. The only one in a legitimate scheduled outage is Arkansas 2?

Come on, they been shutdown for almost three weeks for a leak in a tiny "one" inch line??? What else did they find?

9/30/2016

Power Reactor	Event Number: 52271
Facility: ARKANSAS NUCLEAR Region: 4 State: AR Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] B&W-L-LP,[2] CE NRC Notified By: MARK GOHMAN HQ OPS Officer: STEVE SANDIN	Notification Date: 09/30/2016 Notification Time: 04:01 [ET] Event Date: 09/29/2016 Event Time: 21:00 [CDT] Last Update Date: 09/30/2016
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(3)(v)(B) - POT RHR INOP	Person (Organization): WILLIAM COOK (R1DO) CHRIS MILLER (NRR)

Unit	SCRAM Code	RX CRIT	Initial PWR	Initial RX Mode	Current PWR	Current RX Mode
1	N	N	0	Refueling	0	Refueling

Event Text

UNISOLABLE LEAK ON DECAY HEAT REMOVAL PIPING DUE TO WELD FAILURE ON A 1" COMMON PIPE "At 2100 CDT on 09/29/16, while in Mode 6, both trains of Decay Heat (Residual Heat Removal) were declared inoperable due to a cracked weld on a 1" common pipe. The leak developed in a USAS B31.7, Class1 pipe at a weld upstream of pressure indication isolation valve DH-1037. The leak is not isolable from the common 8-inch Decay Heat piping and encompasses approximately 1/3 [one third] of the pipe circumference. "At the time of discovery, the unit was in Lowered Inventory with both Loops of Decay Heat in service. Subsequently, one train of Decay Heat has been secured to reduce the likelihood of crack propagation. One Train of Decay Heat remains in service providing the function of removing Decay Heat and the other train is readily available. The leakage impacts redundant equipment required to fulfill a safety function. In the current condition, both trains are required to be operable to meet Technical Specification LCO 3.9.5, Decay Heat Removal (DHR) and Coolant Circulation-Low water Level. "This condition is reportable per 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(v)(B) for any event or condition that results in a loss of Safety Function associated with the Decay Heat System (Residual Heat Removal System). "The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector." The leak is approximately 0.25 gallons per minute and pipe pressure is 140 psi. Compensatory measures are in place and include an individual posted to watch the pipe in case plugging is necessary. Repairs to the pipe will be completed once pipe is able to be drained.

Junk Grand Gulf Licensed Operators and Capacity Factor

(when they ever going to restart)

Amy Wold,

River Bend, Waterford and Grand Gulf nuclear plants are a mess. The Entergy Southern plants are really in trouble. What is wrong with Grand Gulf recently besides the plant being grossly not profitable with all the down powers and shutdowns???  I believe the NRC recently ask them to stay

(Sept 29) “Junk Plant Grand Gulf: Delay Startup to Fix Safety Culture”

shutdown because the control room employees were unsafe…this is unprecedented. Grand Gulf recently made a public notification they are going to shutdown because they no longer trust their “control room” employees to be safe??? Give the resident Grand Gulf NRC inspector a call and ask them why they are shut down?    

Are our efforts to make Entergy spend big bucks on Vermont Yankee, Indian Point, Fitzpatrick and Pilgrim financially starving Grand Gulf, Waterford and River Bend? Is it A war between Entergy’s regulated and non-regulated plants?  

Mike Mulligan

Hinsdale, NH

16032094206

Junk Cook Plant Engineering Assumption

God help us all if all their engineering assumption are as inaccurate as this. The industry is riddle with not conservative engineering assumptions.

Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 2

LICENSEE EVENT REPORT 316/2016-001-01

Manual Reactor Trip Due to Moisture Separator Heater Expansion Joint Failure

ROOT CAUSE

The Root Cause was determined to be an organizational failure to recognize the risk significance of, and to adequately correct or mitigate, previously identified vibration issues with the Unit 2 B Right MSR crossover expansion joint tie rod and bellows in a timely fashion.

CONTRIBUTING CAUSES

Tack welds were inappropriately applied to nuts on the tie rod areas under tensile load. This was inconsistent with the intent of the Engineering Change which installed the threaded tie rods and was the result of poor communication between engineering workgroups. These tack welds on ASTM A 193 B7 material created stress risers which accelerated tie rod high cycle fatigue failure.

The B crossover lines are subject to higher levels of vibration than the A and C crossover lines. The vibration amplitudes produced stresses in the B tie rods that led to the tie rod high cycle fatigue failure.

The B crossover line vibration issue was removed from the plant high priority list following U2C22 before the vibration condition was resolved. Unit 2 returned to service and operated for several months with elevated vibration levels on the MSR B crossover lines before vibration amplitudes were addressed. Since the issue was no longer on the plant high priority list, the issue was no longer a station priority and workgroups lost focus on the issue.

Indian Point Junk Maintenence

Pathetic

Licensee Event Report# 2015-001-01, "Technical Specification (TS) Prohibited Condition Due to an Inoperable Containment Caused by a Service Water Pipe Leak with a Flaw Size that Results in Exceeding the Allowed Leakage Rate for Containment" Indian Point Unit No. 2 Docket No. 50-247 DPR-26

The direct cause was corrosion. The apparent cause was the length of time to implement a modification to replace the FCU motor cooler copper-nickel piping identified in 2009 per the SW mitigation strategy. An engineered clamp was installed over the pipe defect. The pipe and affected elbow were replaced in accordance with the requirements of ASME Section XI Code during the spring refueling outage in 2016. A modification to replace piping will be processed for funding. The event had no significant effect on public health and safety.

Hurricanes and Zika Mosquitoes

10/9


Well, we had our Florida Hurricane. Hurricane Mathew raked the east coast of Florida mostly missing Mimi.

Originally posted om 8/20/16 

8/25

Can tropical systems influence the spread of the Zika virus?            

By Katy Galimberti, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

August 25, 2016; 10:11 AM ET                       

Experts say that hurricanes and tropical storms could influence the spread of the Zika virus.
With a brewing system in the Atlantic that could impact the Bahamas and Florida, tropical activity could lead to a wider spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
Jason Rasgon, associate professor of entomology and disease epidemiology at Penn State University, told AccuWeather that there are multiple methods in which hurricanes and tropical storms can spread mosquitoes, including those carrying Zika...

As example in our recent hurricanes, strange moths had been seen.

“Hurricane winds and flooding can carry in new insects and seeds, ushering in new season-long battles and making growing season the next year a challenge.”

Major Restructuring Going On At The NEI

By Timothy Cama - 10/04/16 12:12 PM EDT

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has tapped Maria Korsnick, a veteran of the nuclear industry, to be its new CEO.
Korsnick, currently the chief operating officer at NEI, will start her new role Jan. 1, when Marv Fertel, the current CEO, retires.

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She has previously held executive positions at Constellation Energy Nuclear Group and Exelon Corp.“Maria is highly regarded for her strong leadership skills and exceptional technical expertise,” Dan Brandt, chairman of NEI’s board and CEO of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., said in a Tuesday statement announcing Korsnick's promotion.
“As proven by her success as NEI’s chief operating officer, she will provide the vision and guidance that will drive the organization’s effectiveness,” he said.
“I couldn’t be more proud to have the opportunity to lead NEI and advance nuclear energy,” Korsnick said in the statement. “The nuclear industry is facing challenges, and I’m looking forward to help strengthen the policies, regulations and public support that will ensure it has a robust future.”
Fertel’s retirement, announced in August, came along with a major shakeup in leadership at NEI. The top lobbying and communications officials at the group are leaving, and NEI is looking for one person to replace them in a newly combined role.
The changes come at a crucial moment for the nuclear sector. Numerous plants are expected to close in the coming years amid competition from cheap natural gas and renewables, and increasing safety and security requirements.
A small handful of new plants or reactors are under construction domestically as well.
NEI is working on various major policy priorities, like getting a tax credit renewed for newly built plants, trying to get the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site built and reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Exelon's Nuclear Plants Removing Handguns From All Security Guards To Boost Profit

Update

http://www.whec.com/nys-exposed/security-changes-ginna-nuclear-power-plant/4280162/?cat=11217

 

*We reached out to Exelon, the company that owns Ginna to find out how the changes will impact security. In a statement, the company says in part: 

"Our nuclear facilities are secure. Our security officers remain heavily armed and ready to defend the facility. Handguns were one option for a weapon, but were never required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)... Over the past ten years, we have spent millions of dollars continually fortifying nuclear power plants. With these improvements, handguns are no longer required." 

According to internal emails and a newsletter that News10NBC obtained, Exelon and management at Ginna also say this change will save money. We went to Ontario Town Supervisor John Smith who says he supports the change, especially if is saves money. 

"I would applaud the power plant realizing the position they are in and they have a lifeline -- fortunately from our ratepayers -- to sustain Ginna, and other upstate New York power plants," says Smith. "Anywhere they would trim costs to reduce dependency would be a smart more. I am very comfortable with that." 

*Statement from Exelon: 

Our nuclear facilities are secure. Our security officers remain heavily armed and ready to defend the facility. Handguns were one option for a weapon, but were never required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 

The nuclear industry in conjunction with the NRC closely monitors evolving security threats, and reviews and adjusts protection strategies accordingly. Over the past ten years, we have spent millions of dollars continually fortifying nuclear power plants. With these improvements, hand guns are no longer required. 

Well-trained security forces, robust physical barriers, intrusion detection systems, surveillance systems, and plant access controls are just some of the measures designed to protect the public, employees and the plant. Overlapping layers of physical, human and electronic security make the plant secure. 

The nuclear energy industry’s security programs are highly regulated by the federal government, ensuring nuclear power plants are among the best protected private sector facilities in the nation.  

This change was thoroughly evaluated by industry experts who found that eliminating handguns would have no impact on the current security strategy, given the other barriers, weapons and detection systems already in place.

My analysis of this event...it is the test case for nuclear industry/NEI's 30% budget reduction program nationwide. They think gov Cuomo is in a terribly weak position with his corruption issues, thus they chose NY for the test case. I think the industry wants to remove handguns nationwide from nuclear guards as a money saving policy.   

I can't believe the "power that be" didn't evaluate the optics of removing handguns from the security force. The idea they didn't disclose this to outsiders before they tried to implement it

This has been approved by the NRC. This is my case for the fallacy of security secrecy always protects our nation. The CIA director this weekend in the news shows saying the stability of the world is in the worst shape in 50 years. 

I bet you one of the risk perspectives says having poorly paid and disgruntled security officers running around with live handguns is a humongous risk for the plant. The nightmare is a security officer with a handgun strapped on his waist coming into the control room killing all the control room employees with his gun. Or he participating in a outside terrorist attack while he is inside the plant with his live gun...

This guy might be in a lot of trouble. He has outed the approved security stance in a nuclear plant without prior approval. He could have used the NRC's allegation process if he had too. I doubt Allegation would rule in his favor.

These are idiots here. Idiots follow the rules to their own demise. This is a radicle change in nuclear plant security posture, why didn't they have a public meeting over this as a means to cover their butts.  

NYS Exposed: Security changes at Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

October 03, 2016 06:27 AM

A nuclear power plant in our area is trying to cut costs by making security changes. These changes could be putting people living nearby in danger.

News10NBC received a phone call from a concerned employee at the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant. The employee says the security force at Ginna is going to be getting rid of all hand guns onsite.

The man that reached out to us has worked at Ginna Nuclear Power Plant for a number of years as a security officer. He says as of http://www.whec.com/nys-exposed/security-changes-ginna-nuclear-power-plant/4280162/ 

NYS Exposed: Security changes at Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

October 03, 2016 06:27 AM

A nuclear power plant in our area is trying to cut costs by making security changes. These changes could be putting people living nearby in danger.

News10NBC received a phone call from a concerned employee at the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant. The employee says the security force at Ginna is going to be getting rid of all hand guns onsite.

The man that reached out to us has worked at Ginna Nuclear Power Plant for a number of years as a security officer. He says as of October 12, security officers will no longer be carrying hand guns. Riffles will still be on site for some officers to carry, and others to use in case of an emergency, but this man says this change is putting people in danger.

Amanda Ciavarri: If someone were able to get into the reactor, what kind of havoc could they cause?

Securuty officer: From what we are trained in, it is sickness, death. You are talking about 15,000 people surrounding that area getting very sick or dying. And it is my job to protect them.

Amanda Ciavarri: Can you do your job with this change?

Security officer: I don't know. I don't feel very confident, I can tell you that. 

According to a company newsletter that News10NBC obtained, it is a move that Exelon, the company that owns Ginna, says will save money. But does it compromise security?

Security Officer: I think the public should have a say if they are going to make major security changes, and they aren't giving the public that option, and they are paying for it.

The plant is funded in part by RG&E customers, who pay a fee every month that goes to run Ginna. On News10NBC at 5 and 6, we will look into how this change will impact safety. Also, if it is saving money, does that mean you will be paying less for utilities? The answers we find may shock you.

October 12, security officers will no longer be carrying hand guns. Riffles will still be on site for some officers to carry, and others to use in case of an emergency, but this man says this change is putting people in danger.

Amanda Ciavarri: If someone were able to get into the reactor, what kind of havoc could they cause?

Security officer: From what we are trained in, it is sickness, death. You are talking about 15,000 people surrounding that area getting very sick or dying. And it is my job to protect them.

Amanda Ciavarri: Can you do your job with this change?

Security officer: I don't know. I don't feel very confident, I can tell you that.

According to a company newsletter that News10NBC obtained, it is a move that Exelon, the company that owns Ginna, says will save money. But does it compromise security?

Security Officer: I think the public should have a say if they are going to make major security changes, and they aren't giving the public that option, and they are paying for it.

The plant is funded in part by RG&E customers, who pay a fee every month that goes to run Ginna. On News10NBC at 5 and 6, we will look into how this change will impact safety. Also, if it is saving money, does that mean you will be paying less for utilities? The answers we find may shock you.

HBO’s Newsroom 2016: All I Did Is Cry Through It Today

I love this series. Hated it at times. I just love a liberal or altruistic happy ever ending story. It certainly doesn’t come from the democrats. It just don’t happen anymore. This afternoon, I was looking around for a TV program to watch. I came to the HBO list of series, I knew I had to watch something in Newsroom. I ended up watching the last program. I surprisingly teared and cried throughout the whole program. Post the show’s ending in Dec 2014, how do you think the USA has progressed since then.

I am seriously thinking of becoming voter terrorist…I am going to vote for trump. The FBI should pay me a visit me “again”. They should put me in Guantanamo and throw away the keys. The reason why I am voting for trump is I want him to "blow up" the USA. As Ralph Nader chewed us out for in another election, I am going to vote for the "least worth choice" again. I am going to vote for what I think is in the best interest of our nation. I think quickly "blowing up the USA" would create less damage in the long term, than continuing in our current trajectory.

I feel so sad for me…

Our news media is broken...

Go watch this HBO program again in the light of our crazy and crazier political season...

Any good American should be crying for "you"...

    

Junk Toshiba Nuclear Fuel Factory in South Carolina

How in the world could you trust Toshiba to own a nuclear fuel factory in the USA?

2015 accounting scandal[edit]

Toshiba announced in 2015 that it was investigating an accounting scandal.^[25] Toshiba said that it might need to mark down profits for the previous three years.^[26]
On 21 July 2015, CEO Hisao Tanaka announced his resignation amid an accounting scandal at the company that Tanaka called "the most damaging event for our brand in the company's 140-year history." Profits had been inflated by $1.2 billion over seven years.^[27] Eight other senior officials also resigned, including the two previous CEOs.^[28] Chairman Masashi Muromachi was appointed acting CEO.^[29] Following the scandal, Toshiba Corp. was removed from a stock index showcasing Japan's best companies. That was the second reshuffle of the index, which picks companies with the best operating income, return on equity and market value.^[30]
In September 2015, Toshiba sales fell to their lowest point in two and a half years. The firm said in a statement that its net losses for the quarterly period were 12.3 billion yen ($102m; £66m). The company noted poor performances in its televisions, home appliances and personal computer businesses.^[31]
In December 2015, Muromachi said the episode had wiped about $8 billion off Toshiba's market value. He forecast a record 550 billion yen (about US $4.6 billion) annual loss and warned the company would have to overhaul its TV and computer businesses. Toshiba would not be raising funds for two years, he said. The next week, a company spokesperson announced Toshiba would in early 2016 seek 300 billion yen ($2.5 billion), taking the company's indebtedness to more than 1 trillion yen (about $8.3 billion).^[32]

No doubt they have been throttling funding to the SC fuel factory in order to save Toshiba and  it caused the employees to be   

 

Japan conglomerates seek to merge loss-making nuclear fuel operations: sources (Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi)

There just is no doubt congress and political contributions sets up the NRC to be reactionary, not proactive. It intimidates all good employees caught up in the corruption's wake.




I have to disabuse you of the idea today this has anything to do with American JOBs. It is all controlled by foreign governments. Westinghouse is owned by the very untrustworthy Japanese giant Toshiba and most of the actual source fuel(>95%)comes from Russia and other countries.

It sounds like a whistleblower provoked the reporting?

 Columbia nuclear incident prompts federal warning

By SAMMY FRETWELL
sfretwell@thestate.com

COLUMBIA, SC The recent discovery that radioactive material had built up in a Columbia nuclear fuel factory has prompted federal warnings to other plants about the hazards of failing to properly monitor their facilities.
In a public notice issued this week, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said accidents can occur when uranium is allowed to accumulate in fuel plants over time.

The agency urged other fuel factory operators to “consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar issues.’’ The NRC’s notice said the “long-term accumulation of uranium’’ has been a recurring issue in the nuclear fuel industry.
The notice went to about a half-dozen plants across the country, a day after the NRC held a public meeting in Columbia to discuss an investigation of the Westinghouse factory southeast of town.
“Other licensees need to know about this,’’ NRC spokesman Joey Ledford said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, NRC regional administrator Catherine Haney called the uranium buildup at Westinghouse a “serious event.’’ Top Westinghouse officials conceded the company had fallen down on the job in not properly keeping track of the uranium.
Over the summer, the NRC learned that uranium had accumulated in an air pollution control device, called a scrubber, to levels three times the federal safety standard. The agency and Westinghouse found other buildups inside the plant after looking more carefully.
Low-enriched uranium, like that used at Westinghouse, is not considered as dangerous as highly enriched uranium, but it can still be hazardous if not properly monitored.
When uranium accumulates to levels that exceed the safety standard, it increases chances of a “critical’’ event, a nuclear accident that can send out a burst of radiation. In the Westinghouse case, nearby workers could have been injured from the uranium buildup, agency officials said in a preliminary investigation report this past week.

Among the fuel factories notified of the Westinghouse problems were facilities near Wilmington, N.C. and Richland, Wash., both of which also make atomic fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
A spokesman for the Wilmington-area plant said it has not had buildups of uranium above federal safety limits, but the facility’s owner was aware of the problems in Columbia and has taken steps to make sure similar problems do not occur in North Carolina.
“As soon as we learned about the events there, we conducted a self-assessment related to this specific area and found that all controls are working as expected,’’ Jon Allen, a spokesman for G.E. Hitachi Nuclear Energy, said in an email.
Westinghouse officials said this week they are taking steps to improve safety at the plant. The company has brought in new personnel, instituted new safety procedures and updated equipment to help, among other things.

While the company works to address the issue, it has shut down part of its production line and temporarily laid off more than 100 workers. The plant, between Congaree National Park and Interstate 77, employs about 1,000 people. Nuclear fuel assemblies are sold worldwide to power plants.
“Our leadership and workforce intend to earn back the trust and confidence of the NRC, the community and our customers,’’ company executive Michele DeWitt said.
The federal safety notice, issued Wednesday lays out new details in the unfolding Westinghouse story.
Westinghouse has had buildups of material in air pollution scrubbers since at least 2002, but the company did not accurately document how much uranium was in the material, according to the NRC. As a result, it is difficult to say whether Westinghouse exceeded safety limits in the past, an agency official said Friday.
The NRC information notice also said that for seven years prior to this year’s discovery of excessive uranium, the company did not thoroughly inspect and clean parts of the scrubber system. Some problems appear to have continued this year.
After Westinghouse analyzed the material from the scrubber, one division of the company learned that uranium levels exceeded the safety limit. But that division did not immediately share the information with the Westinghouse safety staff, said Omar Lopez, a NRC inspector who led the probe in Columbia.
“There was a break in communications between the operations group and the safety department,’’ he said.

Japan conglomerates seek to merge loss-making nuclear fuel operations: sources (Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi)

Japan conglomerates seek to merge loss-making nuclear fuel operations: sources

 Thu Sep 29, 2016 | 6:19am EDT

By Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada | TOKYO

TOKYO Three Japanese conglomerates are in talks to combine their loss-making domestic nuclear fuel operations, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the outlook for restarts of reactors following the Fukushima nuclear crisis remains bleak.

Hitachi Ltd (6501.T), Toshiba Corp (6502.T) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (7011.T) aim to merge the operations as early as spring 2017, one of the people said, declining to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

The person added that the three companies may eventually consider merging their nuclear reactor businesses, although nothing specific has been discussed so far.

Only three of Japan's 42 reactors are currently operating after they were idled in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed Tokyo Electric Power Co's (9501.T) Fukushima Daiichi power station. Public opposition, safety and other regulatory obstacles has made the outlook for further restarts extremely unclear.

The move has also likely been encouraged by General Electric's (GE.N) growing interest in the market for fuel for pressurized water reactors (PWRs), said an executive at a Japanese utility. GE has a controlling stake in a joint venture with Hitachi and Toshiba called Global Nuclear Fuel, which provides fuel for boiling water reactors (BWRs).

The traditional dividing line in the U.S. nuclear industry with GE specializing in fuel for BWRs and Toshiba's Westinghouse focusing on fuel for PWRs is no longer applicable, he said.

"The merger of Japan's nuclear fuel businesses will to a large extent take its cues from GE," said the executive, declining to be identified as he was not part of the discussions.

PWRs have been growing in popularity, particularly in emerging economies like China. As of December 2015, PWRs accounted for more than 80 percent of 66 nuclear reactors under construction.

The three Japanese conglomerates are aiming to reach a preliminary agreement by the end of the year, the person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The companies said they were considering options for their domestic nuclear fuel businesses but no decisions had been made.

The conglomerates are likely to first form a joint holding company for their fuel businesses before merging them into one entity, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Industry sources said the government has been pushing the firms to integrate their fuel businesses, raising the chances that any merger plan will not run into any anti-trust issues.

Until the Fukushima disaster, the nuclear fuel business had been a stable source of profits for the domestic nuclear power industry.

Toshiba, which has overseas nuclear fuel operations through its U.S. unit Westinghouse, forecasts that fuel will generate 17 percent of the estimated 870 billion yen ($8.56 billion) in revenue from its nuclear power business for this financial year.

Hitachi has a global nuclear power alliance with General Electric Co (GE.N) while Mitsubishi Heavy has one with France's Areva SA (AREVA.PA).

Hitachi's shares gained 2.4 percent and Mitsubishi Heavy advanced 2.3 percent on Thursday. Toshiba's stock rose 0.2 percent while the broader market climbed 1.4 percent.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada; Additional reporting by Tim Kelly in Tokyo and Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Edwina Gibbs)

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article105299606.html#storylink=cpy

Junk Plant Wolf Creek:Three Security Violations

We are seeing a great decline building up here?

WOLF CREEK GENERATING STATION, NRC SECURITY INSPECTION
REPORT 05000482/2016408

Dear Mr. Heflin: 

On July 27, 2016, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed a security
inspection at the Wolf Creek Generating Station. The NRC inspectors discussed the results of this inspection with Mr. S. Smith, Plant Manager, and other members of your staff. The inspectors documented the results of this inspection in the enclosed inspection report.

The NRC inspectors documented three findings of very low security significance (Green) in this report. These findings involved violations of NRC requirements. In addition, the inspectors documented one violation that was determined to be Severity Level IV under the traditional enforcement process. Further, inspectors documented a licensee-identified violation which was determined to be of very low safety significance in this report. The NRC is treating these violations as non-cited violations (NCVs) consistent with Section 2.3.2.a of the Enforcement Policy.

If you contest the violations or significance of the non-cited violations, you should provide a response within 30 days of the date of this inspection report, with the basis for your denial, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555-0001, with copies to the Regional Administrator, Region IV; the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; and the NRC resident inspector at the Wolf Creek Generating Station.

Cross-cutting aspects were assigned to three of the findings in the areas of problem
identification and resolution, evaluation (P.2) and self-assessment (P6) (assigned to two of the findings). If you disagree with the cross-cutting aspect assignments in this report, you should provide a response within 30 days of the date of this inspection report, with a basis for your disagreement to the Regional Administrator, Region IV, and the NRC resident inspector at the Wolf Creek Generating Station.

Junk Plant Grand Gulf: Delay Startup to Fix Safety Culture

Update 9/30:

It is utterly not safe with the apathy shown by the Louisiana newspapers over Entergy's nuclear plant's such as River Bend and Waterford. It shows you how wrapped up Entergy got the news media in that region and the south. 

"Operational performance concerns"...the most important group at the plant.

September 29, 2016 

PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE - PNO-IV-16-003 

This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The information is as initially received without verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is known by the Region IV, Arlington, Texas staff on this date.

Facility: Grand Gulf Nuclear Station

SUBJECT: GRAND GULF EXTENDED PLANT SHUTDOWN TO ADDRESS OPERATIONS

PERFORMANCE 

DESCRIPTION: 

On September 27, 2016, Grand Gulf Nuclear Station plant management notified the NRC of their intent to delay start-up of the plant, following a forced outage, to implement corrective actions to assess and resolve operational performance concerns. The plant completed a 16 day forced outage to replace a residual heat removal pump on September 24, 2016. Two separate operational performance issues occurred during startup preparation. Plant operators identified four valves that were inappropriately closed, rendering the alternate decay heat removal system inoperable. That system was required to be available while workers replaced a safety-related pump on the residual heat removal system. Additionally, plant operators opened a main feedwater isolation valve prior to securing the condensate system from a configuration that resulted in a rapid and unanticipated reactor vessel level increase from 33 inches to 151 inches. The timeline for a plant restart is under review by plant leadership while they determine a path forward.

NRC Region IV management received notification of this plan by a telephone call from Grand Gulf plant management at about 3:00 p.m. (CDT) on September 26, 2016. 

This preliminary notification is issued for information only and no further action by the staff is anticipated. 

The State of Mississippi has been notified. 

The information presented herein has been discussed with the licensee and is current as of  9:30 a.m. (CDT) September 29, 2016.

ADAMS ACCESSION NUMBER: ML16273A330
CONTACT: Greg Warnick at (240) 704-5884

Hinsdale, NH Heroin: The Dominican Silk Road To Springfield, Ma

I would consider all illegally entered Dominicans into the USA as enemy combatants. All considered guilty until proven innocent.

Basically the Dominican Republic has a non functioning national government.

Feds bust 'large-scale' heroin mill responsible for putting lethal 'Hollywood' label on the streets

SPRINGFIELD — Members of a DEA joint task force broke up a Dominican Republic-to-Western Massachusetts heroin trafficking ring with 14 arrests on Friday morning and large drug seizures from three separate sites across the city.

Agents began tracking the "Alberto Marte Drug Trafficking Organization" in early January, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.

Marte, of 75 Tyler St. in Springfield, is the lead defendant in the case. Court records say he was responsible for peddling the particularly lethal batch of "Hollywood" heroin that claimed the lives of eight local residents in December and January.

The spate of overdose deaths prompted law enforcement agencies everywhere to publicly warn heroin addicts to stay away from the label. The sworn statement filed late Thursday by DEA Agent John Barron noted the deadly effects of the batch across the region.

A police photo of a batch of heroin seized in January 2016. Federal agents on Friday arrested a number of men in connection with what they say is a "heroin mill" that put bags of the drug labeled "Hollywood" on the streets.Springfield Police Department

"Our investigation has also shown that Marte is responsible for distributing heroin labeled with a 'Hollywood' stamp. This brand of heroin has been connected to numerous fatal overdoses in the New England area that occurred in late 2015 and early 2016," the affidavit reads.

The statement says Marte had drug connections in New York and the Dominican Republic, where additional raids took place this morning.

Records show agents followed various members of the operation around Springfield and other local communities, tapped their phones, and sifted through garbage bags the suspects tossed in dumpsters behind a mobile phone store and the Holyoke Mall in June.

"I then met with (other investigators) in a side lot of the mall and opened the trash bag retrieved from the Dumpster. We immediately observed a very large quantity of materials, which, based on our training and experience, we knew to be heroin packaging materials," the affidavit states.

Inside several trash bags, investigators found glassine baggies labeled "Donald Trump," plastic bags filled with heroin residue, hundreds of elastics, drug ledgers and packaging materials, according to the statement.

Chicopee responds to 8 heroin overdoses, 4 deaths in 4 days

At least two of the deaths were tied to the potent "Hollywood" heroin found in Western Massachusetts.

Barron states Marte had a "stash/mill house" at 152 Lebanon St. in Springfield.

A home at 152 Lebanon St. in Springfield was being used by a heroin distribution ring as a "stash/mill house," according to investigators. Federal agents made over a dozen arrests Friday in connection with the alleged drug operation, which had ties to the Dominican Republic, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.Stephanie Barry / The Republican

According to his affidavit, Connecticut State Police seized $50,000 from a plastic bag delivered from Marte's residence to one of his runners on June 9. Another member of the Marte organization, Carlos Rivera, was specifically used as quality control for specific batches of heroin, Barron says.

"Rivera is known to test Marte's heroin for him upon Marte's receipt of a shipment," the statement reads. "Typically Rivera rates it at a number, between one and 10 ... Marte then typically report's Rivera's findings back to his sources of supply, and depending on the reported quality of the heroin, keeps the heroin for distribution or returns it to his sources of supply."

Another member of the heroin ring was Julian "Gordo" Declet, who sold heroin out of "AJ Buy & Sell," a glorified pawn shop at 895 Carew St., according to investigators.

In addition to Marte, Rivera and Declet, arrested Friday morning were Marcos Pena, William Brantley, Jovanni Rodriguez, Diolfi Antonio Marte Vasquez, Jose Miguel Ramos, Anthony Patino, Mirelvy Vasquez, Pablo Rosario, Anyuly Tavarez and Eduardo Fernandez. They all were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Agents recovered at least three kilos of heroin from an SUV parked in Marte's driveway, and found Fernandez at 152 Lebanon St. nearby a "large amount of heroin" in various stages of packaging for "retail distribution," court records state.

"Agents observed that the apparent sole purpose of the 152 Lebanon St. (property) was that of a heroin mill as it contained virtually no furnishings other than several cots in the living area," the affidavit states. "Agents also observed several hidden locations which were used to secret heroin."

Federal prosecutors are seeking to detain all the defendants pending trial. Hearings will be ongoing in U.S. District Court Friday afternoon.

Springfield police in early January seized 9,000 bags of heroin bearing the "Hollywood" stamp and arrested four men on trafficking and distribution charges.

The suspects in the January arrests were charged in Springfield District Court.

Junk Plant Salem: Terrible Equipment Over Last Two Years

September 22, 2016

 SUBJECT: SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 –INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT 05000272/2016002 AND 05000311/2016002

 

Equipment Reliability (Steady)

The inspectors documented an adverse trend in either equipment reliability or unplanned entries into TS shutdown limiting conditions for operation (LCO) in each of the previous four semi-annual trend review periods (IRs 05000272; 311/2014003, 2014005, 2015002 and 2015004). In February 2016, in response to PSEG’s unplanned LCO performance goal not being met, PSEG performed Common Cause Evaluation (CCE) 70184208, Unplanned Shutdown LCO Goal Not Met. The CCE was completed in April of 2016, with the following results:

A trend of data over an 18-month period from August 2014 through January 2016 identified 68 unplanned shutdown LCOs, which far exceeded the station goal of no more than 8 in a 12-month rolling average. PSEG’s CCE concluded:

1) 15 LCO entries were attributed to faulty parts; 2) 10 entries were attributed to equipment not being repaired in a timely manner; and 3) more follow up evaluations were warranted.

o Work Group Evaluation (WGE) 70185245, “Follow up Evaluation from Unplanned shutdown LCOs,” was performed to further evaluate the 10 entries attributed to equipment not being repaired in a timely manner. PSEG attributed the cause to ineffective development and implementation of equipment reliability strategies to ensure reliability until long-term elimination or mitigating actions were in place. Actions were assigned to develop bridging strategies for Plant Health Committee items and rollout to Station Oversight Committee (SOC) and Management Review Committee (MRC) an expectation that if an unplanned LCO occurs, a causal evaluation should be performed.

The inspectors noted some improvement in the area of unplanned entries into TS LCOs in recent months; specifically, 44 unplanned shutdown LCOs occurred from June 2015 to April 2016, but only seven occurred in the last 3 months of this 10 month period. The inspectors determined that the adverse trend of equipment failures did not constitute a performance deficiency, because the trend, by itself, did not constitute a violation of any NRC requirement. The inspectors inspected individual equipment failures as ROP baseline inspection samples documented in other sections of this report.

Junk and Dead Ender Pilgrim: Junk Safety Relief Valves.

It took me reading about ten newspaper articles before coming to this. I was looking what else was broken. I have zero faith the newspaper industry does their job. 

"While the plant was shut down to repair the valve, personnel completed additional maintenance including evaluating an additional feedwater regulating valve, replacing a safety-relief-valve pilot valve and replacing a turning gear in the main turbine."

It must have been leaking or have a  elevated tail piece temperatures. It is strange they decided to replace it only on the last feed reg water 9% power shutdown. Did they use the SRV to cool down? I know the NRC told me they were watching SRVs carefully. For the refueling outage shutdown, they told me they were going watch the valves open and shut in the drywell.

Will the other three begin leaking now? They are still in the 2 stage SRVs. I am surprised with their history, all of them were not replaced with refurbished.    

Junk And Dead Ender Pilgrim: The Fire Chief Says It's A Cover-Up

(fixed it up a bit on Dec 21)

I talked to the lead NRC inspector about this. The daily or event abnormal leakage rate is not a NRC regulation. It is a local fire regulation. The NRC wants to know every time Pilgrim sends a notification to the town or state agency. So it’s an agreement when Pilgrim make a notification to an agency they file a event report to the NRC. Seems a leak occurred over 24 hours as normal seal leakage, so no big deal. The NRC seems to believe it is normal leakage with the seals. I wonder if they just forgot to depressurize the generator for shutdown ops.  I pressurized and depressurized VY generator many times.

I think it should go like this. Out of a hundred forged signatures on a work document by your boss, twenty will end up being unsafe and will lend to rework. The gold standard of the industry when you sign off on a document, you thoroughly understand what you are signing.  

Junk Plant Pilgrim: Forged Signature On Safety Document Not A NRC Violation

Based on the evidence gathered during the OI investigation, the NRC concluded that, although the planning manager forged the names of Operations and Work Control personnel on the forms, this action did not result in a violation of NRC requirements. Specifically, the NRC determined that the work scope changes did not involve or potentially affect the performance of safety-related equipment; and that the planning manager’s actions did not cause the licensee to improperly perform unplanned work, remove required work from the schedule, or fail to perform a required risk evaluation.

The NRC is not punishing people at a high enough level for submitting accurate and falsified documents. Their knees should be shaking when signing the document worrying the document is incomplete and not fully accurate. You get it, risk perspective lends you to the idea forging sigs is safe. You look at it on the component level, on this particular event, was anything unsafe? The NRC doesn't even give us a cue with what work was being done. We all know this is extremely dangerous if this occurs by many people and over many work orders. The only way you would see how dangerous it is in a big accident. The after event report on it. It might take a accident to discover the extent of the corruption. This is why everyone should be fired for knowing about forged sig or inaccurate documents. Period. It sounds like they didn't have enough people working in this department.  

Fire chief: Entergy fails to notify of hydrogen release, files false report

PLYMOUTH - There's not telling someone what's going on when you're supposed to, and then there's claiming you did something when you didn't.

By Emily Clark
eclark@wickedlocal.com

PLYMOUTH – There’s not telling someone what’s going on when you’re supposed to, and then there’s claiming you did something when you didn’t.

This week, Fire Chief Ed Bradley said Entergy Corp., which owns and operates the Pilgrim Station Nuclear Power Plant, not only didn’t notify the Fire Department of a hydrogen release at the plant as it is required to do, but the company filed a false report on the matter.

Entergy’s report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission states, “At 1739 (EDT) on Friday, September 9, 2016 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Plymouth Massachusetts Fire Department were notified of a hydrogen release in accordance with plant procedures and 310CMR 40.300.”

But Bradley said this is false. Not only was his department not notified of the event Friday, Sept. 9, as the report states, he only learned of the incident when a reporter from the Cape Cod Times contacted him about it Monday, Sept. 12, three days later.

Bradley said he had to call Entergy to find out what was going on.

“I will get calls from media asking if I know about something going on at the plant, then I have to call down to Pilgrim to find out what’s going on,” Bradley said. “These are issues that I’m supposed to be notified of by agreement and by procedure. We’ve had three instances of this in the last couple of months.”

Entergy released this statement in response:

"Pilgrim Station reported a hydrogen release above our allowable limits on September 9 to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the NRC. Our practice of also making a notification to the Plymouth Fire Department did not occur, due to an internal misunderstanding. As a result, a Pilgrim station report to the NRC incorrectly stated that the Plymouth Fire Department had been informed on September 9. This error was not discovered until September 12. The station discussed the matter with the Plymouth Fire Department on September 12 and then corrected its report to the NRC to reflect the appropriate date.

"We have entered the error into our corrective action program and are working to revise procedures to ensure prompt notification of Plymouth Fire is made in the future.”

Ranked by the NRC as one of the three worst performing nuclear power plants in the country, the plant has had to be shut down repeatedly in the last few weeks.

The latest shutdown occurred Tuesday, after the plant was powered up to 9 percent power. This time, a problem with the plant’s turbine turning gear was to blame.

But prior to this latest shutdown, a leak of 2,680 cubic feet of hydrogen gas occurred last Friday, Sept. 9, in the turbine room, while the plant was shut down. The release meets the requirements for notification of state and local entities. Entergy issued this statement on the release:

“Hydrogen releases are a normal part of thermal-electrical power plants, including nuclear plants. The daily release limit for Pilgrim Station, according to state regulation, is 1,900 cubic feet. On Friday, September 9th, with the plant still offline, Pilgrim notified the state that the hydrogen release for the day was 2,600 cubic feet, which is above the state limit. At no time was the safety of the plant or public challenged. While this is an infrequent occurrence, it does not meet our standards and a prompt investigation is underway to determine the cause and to preclude recurrence.”

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan noted that this type of hydrogen venting is not uncommon when a plant is in a shutdown condition.

“We’ve said before that the concentrations were sufficiently low that there was no risk of explosion or harm to workers or the public,” Sheehan said.

He had this to add regarding Entergy’s failure to notify the Fire Department: “In terms of notifications of offsite emergency responders, it’s an important matter.”

Important seems like an understatement for Bradley, who said the situation has gone beyond just miscommunication.

“You do that on an official report as a police officer and firefighter and you could lose your job for that,” Bradley said of the false report. “It’s disturbing to me if it’s an accident and someone missed something. That’s one thing. But when you’re not getting told, it worries you because you’re wondering why. You don’t want to say the word ‘coverup.’ But not calling when they should be and making out faulty reports – that erodes your confidence.”

Entergy’s report to the NRC was amended with an update Sept. 14 stating “The Plymouth Massachusetts Fire Department was notified on Monday, September 12, 2016 at 1411 EDT. This clarifies information applicable to the local notification as identified in the original notification."

But according to Bradley, Entergy didn’t notify him of the incident Monday as the amendment in the report states. Bradley said it was he who had to contact Entergy Monday at 2:11 p.m. about the hydrogen release after learning about it from a reporter. Entergy merely confirmed that what he had heard was true.

So what happens now? Will Entergy face fines or penalties for the false report? Sheehan said the NRC is looking into it.

“Enforcement action is always a possibility,” Sheehan said. “We’ve made it clear in recent years that Entergy needs to do a better job of communicating with the community what is going on at the plant.”

For decades, the Fire Department has been notified of events at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, such as hydrogen releases, malfunctions and mechanical failures, according to Bradley.

But things have changed.

“I don’t know why information isn’t coming over right away,” Bradley said. “I get a call from a reporter from the Cape Cod Times and they say, ‘I have this information’ and I say, ‘Wait a minute I have to get back to you.’ Then I find out it’s true.”

Pilgrim Station Nuclear Power Plant was shut down for four days in August due to a malfunctioning steam isolations valve, which prevents radioactive leaks during a nuclear accident. It’s the same problem the plant had with the valve system in August of 2015.

Then, 10 days ago, the plant was shut down again when water levels in the reactor pressure vessel fluctuated unexpectedly. The source of the problem appeared to be a malfunction in the feedwater regulating valve that pumps water into the vessel to be converted to steam, according to the NRC, which stressed that the issue did not jeopardize the health and safety of the public, or plant employees.

The current shutdown, after the brief power-up Tuesday, is the latest. And, once again, the NRC is reassuring the public that there is no danger or threat to the public.

But it’s a communication shutdown that has the fire chief concerned.

Follow Emily Clark on Twitter @emilyOCM.