NRC's 2018 Plant Assessment: Every One Got 'A' s and 'B' s

NRC Issues Annual Assessments for Nation’s Nuclear Plants

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued annual letters to the nation’s 98 commercial nuclear power plants operating in 2018 regarding their performance throughout the year. All were in the two highest performance categories.

Ninety-three of 98 fully met all safety and security performance objectives and were inspected by the NRC using the normal “baseline” inspection program.

Four reactors were assessed as needing to resolve one or two items of low safety significance. For this performance level, regulatory oversight includes additional inspection and follow-up of corrective actions. Plants in this level are: Grand Gulf (Mississippi); Peach Bottom 2 & 3 (Pennsylvania); and Watts Bar 2 (Tennessee). Watts Bar 2 resolved its issues since the reporting period ended and has transitioned to the highest performing level.

The Failed Summer Nuclear Plant: They Are All Liars

This is becoming truth that somebody turned off the NRC inspectors.

Lawyer: Ex-SCANA officials ‘whitewashed,’ lied about defects at failed nuclear plant

John Monk, The State Published 10:10 a.m. ET March 5, 2019

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OLUMBIA, SC 

SCANA executives deliberately lied to investors about the future of a doomed nuclear construction project, a lawyer representing former SCANA shareholders argued in court Monday.

“The bottom line is they (SCANA executives) lied to everyone, and they did it intentionally,” attorney John Browne told U.S. Judge Margaret Seymour.

The cost was tremendous, said Brown, whose lawsuit argues shareholders lost some $2.7 billion in stock value when the company’s stock price plummeted.

Seymour has a crucial decision to make about Browne’s lawsuit that alleges SCANA executives committed civil fraud that deflated investors’ stock valuations. She will decide whether to allow Browne’s lawsuit to go forward or dismiss it. She gave no hint Monday on how she might rule, or when.

Watching the proceedings Monday at the federal courthouse in Columbia were several attorneys from the U.S. Attorney’s office, which is working with the FBI to investigate criminal fraud allegations against SCANA and some of its former executives.

Federal law officials are keeping a low profile, but the investigation into the now-abandoned nuclear project in Fairfield County is an open secret in the state’s legal community.

The U.S. Attorney’s office would not comment on the investigation Monday.

During the hearing, Browne referred repeatedly to a document known as the Bechtel Report, which SCANA commissioned in 2015 to evaluate progress on the V.C. Summer nuclear plant under construction.

Scott Elliott tells the VC Summer committee that, after studying the Bechtel report, that SCE&G should have disclosed it's findings.

The Bechtel report, a draft of which was presented to SCANA the fall of 2015, detailed substantial cost overruns, construction delays and shoddy work at the nuclear plant site. But the report was never publicly released or discussed.

The company, which was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, hid its findings from investors, the press and the public, Browne said.

“They treated it (the Bechtel report) as something to hide! They treated it as something to whitewash! They treated it as something to bury!” Browne said. He told the judge SCANA wanted to portray the nuclear plant’s ongoing construction as “hunky-dory” and “rosy” so as not to deflate the stock price.

During a 10-month period, from about late December 2016 to late-October 2017, as SCANA’s woes at the nuclear facility became known, SCANA’s stock price plummeted from to $43 a share from $72.

SCANA and its junior partner on the project, state-owned Santee Cooper, announced they were abandoning construction on the project on July 31, 2017.

The chaos unleashed by the nuclear failure led to SCANA, once a profitable showpiece of the state’s business community, being sold to Virginia-based energy giant Dominion Energy earlier this year at a bargain price.

At Monday’s hearing, lawyers representing SCANA and the company’s former executives belittled the claims by Browne that the company’s public statements about progress in 2015, 2016 and 2017 on the nuclear power plant were deliberately meant to mislead the public.

On the contrary, attorney Matthew Martens told the judge, SCANA was consistently open with investors and made sure that people knew the nuclear project was not a sure thing.

“Were risks disclosed? They were disclosed extensively by Mr. Bryne,” Martens said, referring to his client, Stephen Byrne, SCANA’s former chief operating officer. “No one was misled.”

Statements by Bryne and other SCANA officials were informed opinions by officials giving their best, honest assessments of the nuclear project, Martens said.

“There’s no argument that if you make a statement about something that turns out not to be true, that it is going to turn into securities fraud,” Martens said.

SCANA lawyers referred repeatedly to a legal term called “scienter” — meaning that former SCANA shareholders will have to prove that the SCANA executives intended to deceive the public. That’s difficult to prove in most cases.

Moreover, SCANA lawyers said, the shareholder plaintiffs can’t show that the executives enriched themselves by selling big batches of stock at inflated prices or accepting unusual bonuses.

State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs told the judge that news about the project continues to unravel that supports claims about SCANA’s intention to deceive investors and SCANA retirees — many of whom owned SCANA stock.

“We are ready to hit the ground running,” said Kimpson, whose side has compiled a 200-plus page complaint packed with specific instances of alleged deceit by SCANA.

Ouch: Mike Mulligan Get into Car Wreck

Went to my old home town yesterday to go out hiking. Walked and hiked all day. Around 9 pm got to within 1 mile of my house in Hinsdate. Hit a tree right in the middle of my hood off the road. A car was coming down a hill with his headlight on. I diverted my eyes away from the lights, I was off the road in about a second, then hit a pole going at around 30 MPH. I was completely by myself. Airbags came right on. Still kind of hazy with the sequence, think I got a slight concussion. Refuse the go to the hospital. Think they had three ambulance or more on the scene, plus maybe four or five police cruiser and maybe four fire trucks. Seat belt side feels like a broke a rib, really hurts through the night. Better right now. I have embarrassd myself terribly with not paying attention to the road. No tickets. There were sniffing me and my car pretty seriously...But I wasn't on anything.  

Perry Shutdown By High Winds

Boo...

Catholic Church

WP: Pope Francis’s sex abuse speech was a disgraceful display of excuses

The USA and UN should define the Catholic Church as a outlaw religion.

George Levy
Power plant mechanical system design engineer including new plant construction, test engineer and startup engineer.

George: Should extreme Muslim / isis types be outlawed?

Me: Nope, those guys should be bombed to hell.

The catholic hierarchy has a pattern of child sex abuse and coverups that boggles the mind. It is systematic all though the organization. On the whole throughout the world. 

George: gl51802@windstream.net <gl51802@windstream.net>

To:Michael Mulligan

Feb 25 at 1:16 PM

But the victims are still alive, what about those beheaded?

Love mike, think love

Junk plant Grand Gulf: Pruett's 2.206 And Another Scram?

March 4

Up to 100% power. A little choppy at the higher  power levels. 

Update Feb 28

Not bad 53%

Update Feb 27

Another slow startup. Grand Gulf is at 19% and Waterford has been stuck at 75% for weeks.

Update Feb 26

Honestly, how safe are we with this quick startups. They started up last nigh. These guys are notorious with slow startups to full dealing with equipment problems and many scrams. There is a high likely hood these guys are going scram before they get to 100% power. It is a absolute disgrace this plant is going to startup up with their record, the pending 2.206 and a pending special inspection report.  

***The bottom event report is from the last scram. So far it doesn't seem related to turbine control or the B/P valve. Remember the special inspection investigation from the botched last scram hasn't come out yet.  

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53894
Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4     State: MS Unit: [1] [] [] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: GABRIEL HARGROVE HQ OPS Officer: MARK ABRAMOVITZ	Notification Date: 02/23/2019 Notification Time: 19:05 [ET] Event Date: 02/23/2019 Event Time: 14:58 [CST] Last Update Date: 02/23/2019
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION	Person (Organization): RICK DEESE (R4DO)

Unit

SCRAM Code

RX Crit

Initial PWR

Initial RX Mode

Current PWR

Current RX Mode

1

A/R

Y

100

Power Operation

0

Hot Shutdown

Event Text

AUTOMATIC REACTOR SCRAM AFTER TURBINE CONTROL VALVE FAST CLOSURE "Actuation of RPS [Reactor Protection System] with the reactor critical. Reactor scram occurred at 1458 [CST] on 2/23/2019 from 100% power. The cause of the scram was due to Turbine Control Valve Fast Closure. "All control rods are fully inserted. Currently reactor water level is being maintained by the Condensate Feedwater System in normal band and reactor pressure is being controlled via Main Turbine Bypass valves to the main condenser. No ECCS [Emergency Core Cooling System] initiation signals were reached and no ECCS or Diesel Generator initiation occurred. "The Low-Low Set function of the Safety Relief Valves actuated upon turbine trip. This was reset when pressure was established on main turbine bypass valves. "The cause of the turbine trip is still under investigation. "There were no complications with scram response." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. There was no maintenance occurring on the main turbine at the time of the scram.

Power Reactor	Event Number: 53788 ting
Facility: GRAND GULF Region: 4     State: MS Unit: [1] [] [] RX Type: [1] GE-6 NRC Notified By: GERRY ELLIS HQ OPS Officer: JOANNA BRIDGE	Notification Date: 12/12/2018 Notification Time: 17:29 [ET] Event Date: 12/12/2018 Event Time: 00:00 [CST] Last Update Date: 12/14/2018
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS INJECTION 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION	Person (Organization): NICK TAYLOR (R4DO)

Unit

SCRAM Code

RX Crit

Initial PWR

Initial RX Mode

Current PWR

Current RX Mode

1

M/R

Y

100

Power Operation

0

Hot Shutdown

Event Text

EN Revision Imported Date : 12/17/2018 EN Revision Text: MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM DUE TO FAILED OPEN TURBINE BYPASS VALVE "At 1351 CST, the reactor was manually shutdown due to 'A' Turbine Bypass Valve opening. The Main Steam Line Isolation Valves were manually closed to facilitate reactor pressure control. Reactor level is being maintained through the use of Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System, Control Rod Drive System, and High Pressure Core Spray System. High Pressure Core Spray System was manually started to initially support reactor water level control. Reactor Pressure is being controlled through the use of the Safety Relief Valves and the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System. The plant is stable in MODE 3. "The cause of the 'A' Turbine Bypass Valve opening is under investigation at this time. "The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified." * * * UPDATE ON 12/14/18 AT 1140 EST FROM GERRY ELLIS TO TOM KENDZIA * * * "This is an update to EN # 53788 to correct an error on the event classification block of the form. The original notification did not have the block for 8 hour notification for Specified System Actuation checked. The actuation of Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System was discussed in original notification." The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified R4DO (Taylor).