Monday, April 23, 2018

Junk Braidwood's Head: Astonishing Cracks On "Top Head To Upper Center Disc Weld"

I don't remember ever seeming something like this? 

A crack in the head would is considered a impossible accident. It would bypass every safety system in the plant. There is no question there would be a meltdown. They would quickly lose all indications of water level. This is worst than the "hole in the head" at David Besse because it is a head weld. 

Something is funny with this? It doesn't seem probable all these cracks and indications would show up in one testing interval. Did they use a updated UT device? There has been a lot of NRC discussions with the accuracy of UT testing. Did the changes with these discussion lead to better UT testing. The implication are these flaws and cracks for many years, the new UT testing just showed them. What implication nationwide-how many non detected cracks and flaws are active at other plants.     

The UT identified 19 indications, 9 of which are not acceptable per ASME Section XI, 2001 Edition, 2003 Addenda, Paragraph IWB-3510.


Power Reactor Event Number: 53354
Facility: BRAIDWOOD
Region: 3 State: IL
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP
NRC Notified By: RICH ROWE
HQ OPS Officer: DONG HWA PARK
Notification Date: 04/20/2018
Notification Time: 22:22 [ET]
Event Date: 04/20/2018
Event Time: 17:30 [CDT]
Last Update Date: 04/20/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(3)(ii)(A) - DEGRADED CONDITION
Person (Organization):
KENNETH RIEMER (R3DO)
Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
1 N N 0 Refueling 0 Refueling

Event Text

DEGRADED REACTOR VESSEL HEAD

"On Friday, April 20, 2018 at 1730 CDT, during the Braidwood Station Unit 1 refueling outage (A1R20), a scheduled ultrasonic test (UT) was performed on the top head to upper center disc weld of the Unit 1 reactor head. The UT identified 19 indications, 9 of which are not acceptable per ASME Section XI, 2001 Edition, 2003 Addenda, Paragraph IWB-3510.

"This event is reportable under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(A) for 'Any event or condition that results in the condition of the nuclear power plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded'.

"The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.
"


Sunday, April 22, 2018

Junk Plants Vogtle 3&4: Can Only Afford To Hire Crap Skill Labor

You would think they would hire the most expensive and skilled employees. To reduce the over all cost of the plants, it is all back of labor. More stupid republican crap.   

This guy is going to have horrendous capacity factor for the first five years and much rework. I'd like to find out what is the total skill labor rework occurring at the plant. 

“The wages at plant Vogtle are much lower...

AJC: Skilled labor shortages hit Vogtle as Georgia Power reports progress

Posted: 4:00 p.m. Friday, April 20, 2018

Georgia Power says completion of the two new nuclear units being built in Waynesboro faces skilled labor shortages, despite the project being ahead of its revised schedule.

A report filed by the company to the Georgia Public Service Commission ahead of Vogtle construction progress hearings next month identified difficulties in meeting craft labor requirements at the plant as one challenge that could hamper efforts to meet its completion forecast of 2021 and 2022.

The report says Bechtel, the nation’s largest construction company recruited last year as project contractor has been facing challenges in providing skilled labor to the plant that employs over 5,000 people.

“Bechtel must attract the necessary labor force to support the project completion goals,” the report read in part.

According to Will Salters, business manager at the Augusta office of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the shortage in skilled workforce in a statewide issue, which he attributes in part to an abundance of ongoing construction projects across the state.

He said hiring for Vogtle is especially difficult as other companies are providing better pay and incentives, luring some skilled workers away from the plant.

“The wages at plant Vogtle are much lower than they are in other parts of the state…A lot of these other jobs pay more incentives, so they do get more manpower before Vogtle,” added Salters in an interview...

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Massachusetts State Police Scandal: Looking for Serpico


 
 Massachusetts State Police:Looking for Serpico

Reforms urgent as state police scandal deepens (Editorial)
The scandal engulfing the Massachusetts State Police continues to widen, appalling citizens who have only begun to realize the depth of the problems.
The probe expanded to criminal charges with payroll director Denise Ezekiel accused of using her position to steal more than $23,000 in travel and reimbursement funds. Suspended since November, Ezekiel is on indefinite leave and could face further discipline once the investigation is completed.


Ezekiel's guilt or innocence will be determined by the legal process. Even so, Massachusetts taxpayers have a right to be angry and stunned as the state police department repeatedly lands in the news for allegations of institutional abuse.
How could it get to this point? Where were the watchdogs and the checks and balances? These are fair questions as State Police Colonel Kerry Gilpin begins a cleanup process with reforms announced in early April.
The offices of Governor Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey are involved with sorting out impact and depth of the scandal. Maybe they should call in 82-year-old Frank Serpico, whose whistleblowing exposed corruption within the New York Police Department in the 1960s and led to massive reform.
Government officials and Col. Gilpin would prefer to move forward and guarantee that the unseemly activity within the department, brought to light by a scandal over overtime pay and the alleged mishandling of a case involving the arrest of a judge's daughter, can never happen again.
That goal will compete for attention with disposition of cases already brought to light. Colonel Gilpin has the difficult job of balancing reform on the one hand with justice on the other. She must deal with the future and the past at the same time.
What happens with Ezekiel's case remains to be seen, and a presumption of innocence must be attached to these proceedings. Taxpayers cannot be blamed for wondering what hammer will fall next, though.
At a time in our country where law enforcement is asking for the public support it needs to do its job to the fullest, the Massachusetts State Police have badly, badly bruised itself and it will take years to recover. Skeptics might say the agency never will.
It is important to remember the many good and honest police officers within the department. They suffer most of all because they know the department's reputation for corruption spills onto even its most dedicated, honorable employees.
The need for reform is urgent and must be done transparently if citizens are to regain a measure of confidence in their state police. Justice must also be served whenever applicable. These are difficult times for the Massachusetts State Police, with no indication the picture will brighten anytime soon.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Junk Plant Hatch SRVs: Utter Fraud and Corruption Over Extending Testing Frequency


Update May 20
Meant this: "The pre-mature abutment gap closure is most likely due to loose manufacturing tolerances leading to SRV setpoint drift. The phrase "most likely" is killing me. We are operating these plants in a casino. There is certainly collusion  going on between the vendor and licensee...certainly the NRC is in the game too. 

This abutment gape thing has been going on in other plants and it is a rather new phenomena. It started in Pilgrim. 

They can't knowingly put counterfeit and fraudulent parts in a safety system and startup the plant.  

They are certainly putting these new and refurbished valves in the plants at the edge of stability. A little wear then shows up and they don't pass their test. The design is and has always been unstable.
  
As time goes on, as the industry continues to decline, they won't have the resources to keep these valves at the edge of stability. As the valve's support systems and Target Rock continues to decay...

And they are barely used and tested. I don't think any one knows the true operability and reliability = of these valves...their true condition and how they might malfunction. The testing and infrequent usage is cover-upping the true and real reliability of these valves. You put a stress of them, surprises are going to show up.
***Update: Had a talk to the NRC project manager Mr Hall. He essentially agreed to everything I said about this valves...  
New LER: On June 30 2017, with Unit 2 at 100 percent rated thermal power {RTP), "as-found" testing of the 3-stage main steam safety relief valves (SRVs) (EBS Code RV) showed that two of the eleven main steam SRVs that were tested had experienced a drift in pressure lilt setpoint during the previous operating cyde such that the anowable technical specification (TS) surveillance requirement (SR) 3.4.3.1 limit of 1150 +/-34.5 psig had been exceeded. Below is a table illustrating the Unit 2 SRVs that failed as found testing results alter being removed tom service during the Spring 2017 refueling outage. 

MPL 2821-F013C 2821-F013E
Event cause Analysis
Drift -39 psig -49 psig 
The SRV pilots were disassembled and inspected while investigating the reason for the drift It was found that the abutment gap closed prematurely during testing using a linear variable differential transformer (l von to measure pilot stroke distance. The pre-mature abutment gap closure is most likely due to loose manufacturing tolerances leading to SRV setpoint drift

Hatch Plant 1 and 2
Reason for Request Section ISTC-5240, "Safety and Relief Valve," directs that safety and relief valves meet the inservice testing requirements set forth in Appendix I of the ASME OM Code. Appendix I, Section l-1320(a) of the ASME OM Code states that Class 1 pressure relief valves shall be tested at least once every 5 years, starting with initial power generation. This section also states a minimum of 20% of the pressure relief valves shall be tested within any 24-month period, and that the test interval for any individual valve shall not exceed 5 years. The required tests ensure that the SRV main bodies will open at the pressures assumed in the safety analysis. Due to the current 24-month operating cycle for each HNP unit, SNC is required to remove and test approximately half of the 11 SRV main bodies every refueling outage to ensure that SRV main bodies are tested in accordance with the ASME OM Code requirements. This ensure compliance with the ASME OM Code for testing all Class pressure relief valve within a 5-year interval. With the current 5-year interval, Hatch is required to remove and test all11 SRV main bodies over two refueling cycles (i.e. 4 years). Approval to extended the test interval to 6 years with a 6-month allowable grace period would reduce the number of SRV main bodies removed during an individual refueling outage such that the full scope of 11 SRV main bodies are tested over 3 refueling cycles (i.e. 6 years). Without Code relief, the incremental outage work due to the inclusion of the additional two SRV main bodies per outage would be contrary to the principal of maintaining radiation dose As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA). The removal and replacement of the additional SRV main bodies per outage results in an additional personnel radiation exposure of approximately 2.4 Rem every 6 years per unit.
LER 1-2014-003, identified multiple SRV setpoint drifts for 5 of the 11 two-stage SRVs installed on Unit 1. The two-stage SRVs with platinum-coated pilot discs were removed from Unit 1 during the 2014 refueling outage and replaced with 3-stage SRVs that have a modified pilot. The modified pilots will help reduce spurious openings and leak-by due to system vibration.
LER 1-2012-004, identified multiple SRV setpoint drift for 8 of the 11 SRVs. Corrective actions included replacement of the 2-stage SRVs with 2-stage SRVs whose pilot discs had undergone a platinum surface treatment which was considered at that time to be the long term fix for this corrosion bonding issue.
LER 2-2011-002, identified multiple SRV setpoint drift for 8 of the 11 SRVs. Corrective actions included replacement of the 2-stage SRVs with 3-stage SRVs during the Unit 2 Spring 2011 refueling outage which was considered at that time to be the long term fix for this corrosion bonding issue. Subsequent to that outage the 3-stage SRVs exhibited signs of unacceptable leakage which resulted in two separate outages that involved changing out four SRVs during the first outage and the remaining seven SRVs during the subsequent outage in May 2012. The 3-stage SRVs were replaced with 2-stage SRVs containing pilot discs that had undergone the platinum surface treatment.
LER 1-2010-001, identified multiple SRV setpoint drift for 5 of the 11 SRVs. Corrective actions included refurbishment of the pilot valves and included the replacement of the pilot discs with discs made from Satellite 21 material. Additionally, the insulation surrounding each SRV was upgraded to improve resistance to
Previous Similar Events:
LER 2-2008-004; identified multiple SRV setpoint drift for three of the four tested SRV's. Corrective actions for that LER, replacement of discs were implemented but discs made of stellite 21 for the Unit 2 SRV's were not available for all of the replaced discs and thus could not have prevented the current event.
LER 1-2008-002; identified multiple SRV setpoint drift for three of the eleven SRV's. Corrective actions for that LER, replacement of discs with stellite 21 discs, were not yet implemented for the Unit 1 SRV's and thus could not have prevented the current event.
LER 2-2007-006; identified multiple SRV setpoint drift for five of the eleven SRV's. Corrective actions for this LER, replacement of discs with stellite 21 discs, were not yet implemented for the Unit 2 SRV's and thus could not have prevented the current event.
LER 1-2006-003; which identified an error in reporting multiple SRV setpoint drift, also described results from the previous three outages where multiple SRV setpoint drift had occurred. Corrective actions for this LER focused on ensuring the proper reporting of SRV se!point drift was performed.



The Saga Of Michael Buhrman And Land Brittain (Dresden Nuclear Plant) II

Update April 24

About the secret DUIs, there was national implications. How maybe other employees in the industry had hidden DUIs? That is the problem with voluntary submissions and rules. With the outcome of this, the nationwide fix is all licensed employees go through the FBIs data based looking for any illegalities.   

***Hmm, When the worst accident in VY's history occurred, I was up in training and being tested on the simulator. They were in the process of yanking my license. It was nothing unexspected. 

Life isn't fair, but it is...oh, so perfect

The Saga Of Michael Buhrman And Land Brittain (Dresden Nuclear Plant)

We were wizards at the technology, but the big money and difficult jobs isolated us from society. The controversy with nuclear power out in our society. We were very narrowly developed human beings, totally missing the liberal arts, feelings the struggles of our society on the outside. That is when extremist Republicanism views takes hold of your brain...

Van was totally color blind. They did backflips to get him in management. When he was just a regular employee he did all the pressure testing of primary piping system and did the valves leak testing. I think that's where management began to favor him. So he got SRO license and quickly put in the control room. He was the youngest SRO candidate ever. He quickly had problems up there with the people he owned. So they had to yank him out of there because of his maturity. They stuck him in a high level maintenance position to oversee all maintenance.  

Our safety batteries in the switchyard had issues with the NRC. Diodes were later found degraded in the chargers also. It is basically control power for all the big breaker in the switchyard. Two independent DC safety circuits with chargers and batteries. The NRC ordered us to replace the batteries. The plant should have been shutdown for this. They were cross connecting the safety circuits, yanked out one battery (bank), where one charger and one battery was supplying both circuits. A low level ops person entered the switchyard building and yelled boo. The chargers were basically regulating the voltages with the two systems normally. The chargers were never designed for this job. So one charger supplied one battery and both systems. The remaining components went haywire tripping all the big breaker out in switchyard. We had a plant trip, a loss of all off site power, and all sorts of other equipment problems. It was the worst accident in the plants history.

The outcome was, the switchyard was already a dinosaur. And everyone including the grid authorities wasn't doing the proper maintenance in the switchyard breakers and other components, including all the big breakers offsite. They just wasn't enough time in our short outages to do the proper testing, updating and maintenance in our switchyard and their surrounding outside breakers.  

I already had my letter on the Vermont's governor desk saying we are not getting enough resources at the plant and was heading for a terrible accident. This was the guy I predicted.

We finally got brand new sparkling switchyard two years before the permanent shutdown...

The Saga Of Michael Buhrman And Land Brittain (Dresden Nuclear Plant)

Reposted from 11/1/2013

05000237/249
 Where I once worked, went through licensing school (1983) with a guy who bragged he had a IQ of 154. I believe his IQ was that high? Eugene Van Boman went on to be a shift supervisor at VY. He was many times the most senior man on site and the overall boss of the nuclear plant when he was working. Many years later he was coming to work in a personal hovercraft. He had some 3 or 4 secret DUIs he never told the plant about. He had a case pending for 5 years in the court with sexually abusing a 6 year old girl and he still worked as a shift supervisor as it was cycling in the courts. He eventually plead guilty. He lived with his girlfriend and her 15 years old daughter. There was a fear he was sexually abusing the young girl and she was getting ready to spill the beans. His girlfriend and the 15 year old then disappeared...he remains a person of interest with their murders.


I did a search in the NRC documents on Brittian and Buhrman and there are no other documents that came up with their names on it other than the post hijacking. This is highly suspicious that the NRC sterilized all documents and searches with their names on it. It is as if they don’t want you to catch any illegalities or rules breaking with any errant documents. This looks like attempt to protect the industry operation...they are afraid it will strain the industry.
The ADR process is an attempt to keep all record behind closed doors.
This is that inconceivable event where two highly paid and senior nuclear managers could be involved with terrorist. We could have had a near miss inconceivable terrorist event at a two plant facility...these guys could have given every detailed security vulnerabilities to these terrorist on the Dresden Plant.  Dresden should have been put on an extreme terrorist alert since this happen.           

Ultimately I am going to give you some commentary on what I think was going on.
They exactly hired and promoted  these employees for the attributes you see in their lawlessness.
You notice they are hiding what kind of employees these guys were at the plant in their so call bureaucratic processes...
They love them brilliant as hell and immoral...hyper focus on what is in their income interest.
The SRO’s are the bottom level management enforcers of Exelon and Dresden Management...
The NRC interact with these guys a lot...what did they think of them...
...These guy get promoted for the ability to walk across the backs of their peers and those who are below them.

...Has any FBI expert or Homeland security terrorist interrogation expert said to either these guys...give up to us illegal activities at the Dresden plant and we will give you a sweet court deal. Play one against the other...
These plant are obsolete dogs. Most of the new employees come from the best of nuclear technology. It is extraordinarily depressing stepping back in the nuclear Stone Age and with no opportunity to ever work in a modern facility. 
I went to these plants for simulator training in around 1985...there was horrible stories about how they ran these facilities back then and the disgraceful material conditions of the units. 
 Wiki
Unit 2: June 9, 1970
Unit 3: November 16, 1971
Dresden Generating Station(also known as Dresden Nuclear Power Plant or Dresden Nuclear Power Station) is the first privately financed nuclear power plantbuilt in the United States. Dresden 1 was activated in 1960 and retired in 1978. Operating since 1970 are Dresden units 2 and 3, two General Electric BWR-3 boiling water reactors. Dresden Station is located on a 953-acre (386 ha) site in Grundy County, Illinois, at the head of theIllinois River, near Morris, Illinois. It serves Chicagoand the northern quarter of the state of Illinois, capable of producing 867 megawatts of electricity from each of its two reactors, enough to power over one million average American homes.
Arrests Call Into Question Nuclear Plant Employee Training
| Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 | Updated 5:43 AM CDt
Two more Dresden Nuclear Power Plant employees have been arrested in the past month, further calling into question the security screening that all nuclear power plant employees must undergo on a regular basis.
NBC 5 Investigates has learned that Nery Fajardo, 40, and Black Speckman, 24, were in training to become licensed reactor operators at the Dresden plant, located in Morris, Ill., just southwest of Chicago.
But the two were arrested in September at an offsite party. Speckman is accused of tackling an officer, and Fajardo is charged with throwing a beer can at another officer and resisting arrest.
Nuclear safety experts say it's further proof that there's a breakdown in how employees are screened and trained at Dresden.

David Lochbaum, one of the nation's leading independent experts on the subject, says "controls are not as tight as they should be."
The Dresden plant is one of six Illinois nuclear power plants operated by Exelon. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered Exelon to retrain all workers in those plants on proper security procedures, specifically on how to recognize and report suspicious behavior among employees.
It's the direct result of the activities of Michael Buhrman and Landon Brittain, two former high-ranking Dresden employees who were senior nuclear operators at the plant.
Brittain is awaiting trial in DuPage County Jail, and Buhrman was just returned to the U.S. by federal marshals after being arrested in Venezuela.
Both men fled to the South American country after a wild diversion from their day jobs at Dresden. The NRC confirms Burhman recruited Brittain at the plant and tried to recruit others to help him in a carjacking and bank robbery based on his fascination with the movie "The Town." Then, the men vanished.
Lucas Hixon, the editor of the nuclear watchdog web site Enformable.com, says Burhrman and Brittain "are supposed to be licensed from top to bottom and are supposed to be no problem personnel."
Hixon investigated the case, and through Venezuelan police sources, claims the two men ended up living a life of crime, residing in a luxury high rise building in Caracas and hosting sex parties.
"It takes all of our current notions of safety and kind of tosses them on their head," Hixon said.
In the past 24 hours, the NRC has issued a personal letter to Burhmain and Brittain formally prohibiting involvement in any future license nuclear activities to protect the public health and safety.
Burhman was already tried, convicted and sentenced in absentia and Brittain is a week away from his next court date.
The two most recently-arrested Dresden employees are awaiting trial.
Exelon officials would not comment on the four men but did say the company would comply with the NRC order to retrain its staff.


In 2012, Michael Buhrman and Landon Brittain worked together as senior reactor operators at the Dresden nuclear power plant in Morris, Illinois.

Michael Buhrman, 31, began his career in the nuclear industry after being honorably discharged in from the Navy nuclear program in 2005, where he had worked as a reactor operator and nuclear electronics technician.
After watching the movie, “The Town” featuring Ben Affleck, which features four friends who decide to rob a bank, Buhrman was inspired to feed his adrenaline through a life of crime. The well-paid senior reactor operator started attempting to recruit other workers at the Dresden nuclear power plant in order to form a gang to rob banks “to get back at the system.”
Buhrman did succeed in recruiting at least one other worker, Landon Brittain, a senior reactor operator at the Dresden nuclear power plant. Landon Brittain, 31, had studied at Washington University in St. Louis, and was living in Joliet, Illinois while working at the Dresden nuclear power plant.
From conspirators to criminals
The parking lot of the Kohl’s department store in Woodridge, Illinois.
On Wednesday, May 9th, 2012, around 10:00 pm, Michael Buhrman and Landon Brittain were preparing to commit a brazen crime. The plan hatched by Buhrman was to hijack a car and use the stolen vehicle for a planned assault and ultimately a bank robbery in the small town of Hammond, Illinois.
Together, they lurked in Burhman’s Mercedes Benz SUV in the Kohl’s parking lot on the 1000 block of 75th Street in Woodridge, Illinois. When a young woman, Carrie Bradley, exited the store into the parking lot on break from her job, Buhrman leapt into action.
Wearing a realistic mask that resembled a bald old man and armed with a loaded handgun, Buhrman ambushed the victim and pointed the loaded .45-caliber handgun at her chin, telling her to hand over the keys and walk away.
After she gave up the keys, the masked criminal jumped in the victim’s 2000 Pontiac Grand Am, and fled while being pursued by a witness, Lou Canino of Downers Grove, who was notifying authorities of the crime and the direction the stolen car was traveling until it was corralled in a parking lot a few blocks away.
Bradley fled back into the department store after giving Buhrman her keys.
Landon Brittain’s role was to act as a lookout from the SUV and notify Buhrman of the police presence in the area with hand-held radios they carried.
Woodridge officers responded to the call from Lou Canino and stopped the vehicle. When they took Buhrman into custody, he was still wearing the mask and carrying the loaded weapon.
While in custody with authorities, Buhrman confessed that hijacking the car was a stupid thing to do and that he was only “thrill seeking.” After his arrest, Buhrman did not return to the Dresden nuclear power plant.
Buhrman appeared in bond court two days later, on May 11th, 2012, and was released after posting a $200,000 bond.
On Monday, June 4th, 2012, Buhrman formally plead not guilty during a brief appearance before DuPage Judge Kathryn Creswell. The arraignment was attended by Dresden Site Communications Manager Robert Osgood.
The defendant was represented by defense attorney Richard Blass. Despite the prosecutor’s objection, the judge determined that she would grant a request from Buhrman to travel out of state to Nebraska for his 6-year-old son’s birthday party.
Burned by love
In June, Buhrman began dating a young 22-year old woman, whom he gave a false alias with the last name “Brennan” instead of his real name. In July, Buhrman’s girlfriend saw a piece of mail which was mailed to Michael Buhrman, not Michael Brennan. She searched his name on the internet, and found his criminal charges online. 
After she realized that he was facing felony charges, she warned prosecutors that Buhrman bragged about access to offshore bank accounts and a private jet, and was planning to flee to Chile. The young woman also testified that she had overheard Buhrman making bank transfers and that he had purchased $100,000 worth of gold.
The Assistant State Attorney Demetri Demopoulos wrote a motion seeking the bail for Buhrman be revoked, and added that “(Buhrman) indicated that he has ‘two defense teams’ who will keep seeking (court) continuances until he is ready to flee.”
Buhrman’s attorney countered the claims made by the girlfriend of the defendant by saying that his client only mean to diversify his retirement portfolio, and that he had only talked of ‘vacationing’ in Chile after the case was closed.
Hon. Judge Kathryn E. Creswell, Presiding Judge of the Felony Division for the 18th Judicial Circuit Court.
In response to the new findings, Judge Kathryn Creswell tightened bond conditions and restricted Buhrman’s ability to leave his house, but declined to increase or revoke bail. Under the new conditions he was equipped with an ankle monitoring bracelet and only able to leave his home for employment, court, and attorney or doctor visits. He was also barred from going within five miles of any airport, airfield, or heliport.
During the investigation of the crime, federal authorities had Buhrman and a few other co-workers under investigation with the carjacking. Buhrman was also being investigated for other crimes in the area.
$14,000 was deposited into Buhrman’s checking account from a foreign source on September 24th, which he withdrew the next day. Three days after the withdrawal, on September 28th, Buhrman’s GPS monitoring device issued an alert to police that it had been tampered with.
Officers searched Buhrman’s home, finding the ankle monitoring bracelet cut off inside the home, but the defendant had already escaped and police did not find any clues as to his whereabouts. Inside the house, officers noted two slashed window screens, a broken lamp in the master bedroom, some disturbed furniture, a small amount of blood, and several empty boxes which appeared to have contained gold at some time.
Buhrman’s Defense Attorney Richard Blass, attempted to spin the flight of the fugitive in the eyes of the public. “From what I understand, there were signs of foul play,” he told reporters. “His home was in disarray. The back door was left open, and the front door was locked. They did find blood… I’m just scared this was something that occurred that was beyond his control.”
Police reported that Buhrman had staged his Coal City home to make it appear as if he had been abducted or some other foul play had taken place. They noted that nothing was disturbed near the windows where the screens were cut, that nothing inside of the open drawers appeared disturbed, and none of the high-end electronics in the home were missing.
Illinois State Police Sgt. Heather Poerio said, “It looked very staged, like somebody wanted us to believe gold was taken and he was forcibly removed. I felt it was a probation violation.”
Prosecutors continued working on the case and suggested that Buhrman was willfully absent. They requested that Judge Creswell set a date for jury trial in March.
Brittain’s family reported losing contact with him in October of 2012, around a month after Buhrman had removed his monitoring device and ran from his home before police could arrive and apprehend him. U.S. Marshals later reported that Landon Brittain, a former person of interest, had went to South America and not returned. According to a missing-persons flier posted on Facebook by his family, Brittain was last seen in Caracas, Venezuela.
Landon Brittain Missing Poster
Landon’s half-sister reported him missing to the Joliet Police Department on November 5th, of 2012. Landon’s half-sister contacted a friend of Brittain’s from a gym in Caracas, and told him that Landon had told her that he had fled the country because one of his girlfriends had gotten pregnant.
In subsequent reports she is quoted as saying, “Landon is missing, but it seems it is by choice. He did not notify his friends or his family that he was leaving. He made great efforts to ensure that he could not be found. He took very little from his home, but we are sure he had a large amount of money. Events leading up to his disappearance suggest a vast change in the Landon we all know and love. Sometimes we face things in our life that are difficult and everyone reacts differently to these situations.”
Some of those “great efforts” made by Landon included efforts made by the defendant to prevent family or law enforcement officers from retrieving any information of his whereabouts from his laptops, computers, credit cards and known cellular phones.
Michael Buhrman was convicted in absentia in May 2013, on the charges of charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking and vehicular hijacking, and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
DuPage County Judge Kathryn Creswell did find Buhrman “willfully absent” from court after his disappearance in September and allowed jurors to hear the case without him.
During sentencing, Buhrman’s ex-wife testified how controlling and abusive the defendant had been during their nearly three-year marriage, which had ended in July 2008.
Judge Creswell felt assured that Buhrman had fled to avoid prosecution, and said that a lengthy sentence would be required to protect the public.
The jury only needed 45 minutes to return the verdict of guilty. After the sentencing hearing, Buhrman’s ex-wife cried as she apologized to the victim in the hallway outside of the courtroom, bemoaning that she had not done anything sooner about her ex-husband.
In July of 2013, a DuPage County judge set bail at $1 million for Landon Brittain, 31, who fled to Venezuela after the carjacking instead of facing charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, vehicular hijacking and obstructing justice. The public defender appointed to the case indicated that Brittain was homeless at this time.
Prosecutors said that after other evidence pointed to his involvement, Brittain had implicated himself in the crime. The fugitive was also accused of lying to police on the day of the carjacking.
Michael Buhrman was listed as one of Interpol’s 150 Most Wanted.
Fugitives on the run
Initially, in October of 2012 Brittain and Buhrman had decided to attempt to run away to Santiago, Chile, where they knew some people who could help them settle down and continue their nefarious ways. This plan ultimately fell through, and the fugitives were forced to hide in Venezuela.
Landon Brittain was the first to flee the United States, by flying commercially to Venezuela. Buhrman had to take more precautions due to the public nature of his case, so he fled the United States into Mexico, travelling by bus until he bought a motorcycle and headed to the second largest city in Guatemala, Quetzaltenango.
In Quetzaltenango, Buhrman waited for Jonnathan Morales, aka Jesus Sira, a known Venezuelan racketeer. Landon Brittain, who was awaiting them in Caracas, also contacted Morales.
In partnership with Morales, who was using the alias Jesus ‘Jay’ Sira, Buhrman shipped $500,000 in cash inside of nutritional supplement containers for bodybuilders. They did this by using the Caribbean island St. Barts as a bridge, where they opened the containers, hid the bills inside with the products, and resealed the containers again.
Jesus Sira advised Buhrman to contract the services of a shipping company with experience in importing and exporting in order to legalize the shipment of the impregnated “nutritional supplements” in Venezuela. They also took advantage of the opportunity to smuggle other items which they hid in the shipping containers, including two high-speed motorbikes, along with televisions and other electrical devices.
The two fugitives planned to make friends of a higher social status in Venezuela, and live the lives of “jet-setters”, far from where they would have to worry about prosecution for their crimes in the United States.A collage of photos taken by Landon Brittain on his cell phone at luxury residence they rented in Caracas, Venezuela.
Betrayed by greedy accomplice
Once in Venezuela, Buhrman wanted to launder the money by investing in business and real estate, but as the famous adage goes, “if you sleep with dogs, don’t be surprised if you wake up with fleas.” The fugitives rented a residence at the luxury condominium and apartment building called El Rosal Atrium in Caracas, Venezula. Here in Venezuela, Michael Buhrman began using a new alias, Michael Caine.
El Rosal – Atrium Building in Caracas, Venezuela
The end of Buhrman and Brittain’s dreams of escape were virtually assured once the money arrived in Venezuela along with the supplements, for Jesus Sera was back in his native country and overcome by greed – he had it in sinister plot formed to rip the two fugitives off and keep the rest as profit all for himself.
Jonnathan Morales was under investigation by SEBIN, the Venezuelan intelligence agencies, for criminal activities including drug trafficking, arms trafficking, fraud and money laundering. SEBIN is an elite taskforce that only works special cases of organized crime, major fraud, etc,.
Morales planned to denounce Brittain and Buhrman to the police. He stashed drugs and weapons in an apartment of Buhrman’s a few months before the fugitive’s arrest. Morales was not aware of the fact that SEBIN was already investigating both fugitives from the United States for illegal arms trade and trafficking of illegal substances including steroids.
After arriving in Venezuela, Buhrman and Brittain rented a luxury property, frequented a local gym, and were associated with a Venezuelan gang known for forging IDs, possessing stolen automobiles and motorcycles, hijacking, fraud, money laundering, extortion, trade of illegal substances (mostly steroids), weapons, among other crimes.
Once Buhrman began catching on to Morales’s betrayal, he began planning his murder.
While attempting to capture Buhrman, several officers were wounded by the fugitive. One left with a fractured arm and another with a fractured foot. Once in the custody of SEBIN, Buhrman confessed that he and Brittain were planning a big hit in the United States, a bank robbery, kidnapping, or jewelry theft.
Both Buhrman and Brittain despised Venezuelans, looking down on almost all of them. They were recorded by police loudly boasting that “almost all Venezuelan men were fools” and that “all Venezuelan women all were whores”, calling them ‘un-gringo’.
Venezuelan investigators found sex toys and pornography when they searched the living quarters of both fugitives. In Venezuela, both men had promiscuous sexual habits, but Brittain was the most bizarre of the two fugitives. He is reported to have recorded several of his sexual encounters with male and female bodybuilders, without the knowledge or permission of his sexual partners. Among tapes confiscated by investigators were two “group sex” tapes, which featured Brittain.
Buhrman was the most suspicious of the two, constantly on the guard for anyone that could betray them. Their main accomplices were Reinaldo Palma, Yelitza de Khan, and Jonnathan Moreno, who are all behind bars in Venezuela.
Landon Brittain was less careful. He told a work out partner at the gym they frequented about the true story of both men and confessed they were fugitives.
A photo of Landon Brittain and Michael Buhrman working out at a gym in Venezuela.
Of the two fugitives, Buhrman was the leader and managed the finances and accounts. Brittain was always his accomplice, until problems began to form out of jealousy and Brittain’s constant bumbling, carelessness, and recklessness.
Landon Brittain was captured on May 23rd in the gym they frequented in Caracas. He was handed over to United States Marshalls in Maiquetia International Airport 8 weeks later, after coordination between Venezuela and the United States.
On July 17th, 2013, Landon Brittain was booked into the DuPage County Jail on three charges counts, Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking, Vehicular Hijacking, and Obstruction of Justice – Evidence and False Information, with a bond of $1 million, similar charges to those which landed Buhrman a 40 year sentence.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin told the press that a grand jury had recently indicted Brittain, but the indictment was impounded as officials ascertained his location. Berlin admitted that Brittain aided in the carjacking, though he would not discuss details of his role. The State’s Attorney said that the defendant had “implicated himself” and as the investigation continued other evidence pointed to his involvement.
After his arrest in Venezuela, one of Landon Brittain’s acquaintances, Raul Llosa, contacted one of Brittain’s family members in the United States, attempting to get information on the status of the fugitive after his deportation. Raul was one of Landon’s homosexual friends in Caracas, who was also arrested this past week in relation to the case.
Today, Landon’s biggest concern is money. By the time that Brittain was deported back into the United States, he was bankrupt and had no money. He has no home here in the United States, does not have access to any of his assets from Venezuela from the jail cell in Illinois, and none of the money which he took to Caracas was ever brought back.
From time to time his family would put $100 on his commissary account at the county jail where he is being held. His family also helped him hire a new lawyer, but it takes a long time for the justice system to play out – and Brittain’s family is not wealthy.
The family of Landon Brittain is also largely in the dark about his capture in the United States and the severity of the charges against him here in the United States.
On October 22nd, Brittain pled not guilty to charges in the United States, and is due back in court on November 6th.
Buhrman’s arrest in Venezuela
One of the last photographs taken of Michael Buhrman in 2012 before his fugitive flight from the United States.

Buhrman’s last lover in Venezuela was the 19-year-old daughter of a prominent businessman. She had run away from college and her parent’s home to live with Buhrman. Buhrman was worried that his lover’s father wanted revenge on him, so the fugitive criminal was planning an offensive move involving kidnapping the businessman and holding him ransom.
SEBIN arrested five other Venezuelans in relation to Buhrman and Brittain, who all face charges of forging identities, criminal cooperation, trafficking of illegal substances, money laundering, and terrorism. The terrorism charge was added because Buhrman was interested in acquiring C-4 explosives and a Kalashnikov AK-47 for criminal purposes.
Michael Buhrman was on a 5:00 pm flight today in the custody of U.S. Marshalls en route to the United States from Venezuela. Landon Brittain is in jail in Illinois awaiting trial.
Michael Buhrman, and many of the details of the case, will be hung up in Venezuela for some time. Currently, SEBIN intelligence agents are investigating an entire network of organized crime in Venezuela that Buhrman and Brittain were related to. More arrests will be made in relation to the case in the near future.
Brittain and Buhrman are under investigation for additional burglaries, robberies, and felonies in the United States and Venezuela. More charges are likely to be filed against the defendants.