The Russians and Mofia Are Colluding In Springfield MA

Update Oct 25

Oh, so now it comes out the IRS agents posed as Russian buyers. Government officials today have to be very careful with communications surrounding anything Russia. 

After thinking about this, why did our government chose the Russians as the protagonist in this Springfield drama. Where did the feds get the Russian angle other than the Iranians or Rich Mexicans? Or Saudis or Qatar. Something current Russia is propelling the feds and I think our feds are actually sending a message to the Russians plants. Things are not what they seem. Are they trying to get the Russian plants to panic and make a mistake?

WTF: is related to Guiliani's Russians? 

(CNN)Federal prosecutors in New York have subpoenaed the brother of one of the recently indicted associates of Rudy Giuliani, according to two people familiar with the matter, as they escalate their investigation in the campaign-finance case.

The subpoena to Steven Fruman is the latest indication of prosecutors' actions since the rushed arrest two weeks ago of his brother, Igor Fruman, and another defendant, Lev Parnas, at a Washington-area airport. Since then, investigators have doled out multiple subpoenas and conducted several property searches, in one case blowing the door off a safe to access the contents, sources tell CNN. 

...I bet you this began as a national security operation. The Russian are going to wash their money in the bars and properties of the mafia in order to fund future disruption of our political system.

The Russians and Mofia Are colluding In Springfield MA

When a government witness becomes a target: Law enforcement raids Jimmy Santaniello’s Springfield strip club and Longmeadow home
Updated Oct 23, 2019; Posted Oct 23, 2019

Federal agents raid Mardi Gras strip club, Adolfo's Ristorante in Springfield

By Stephanie Barry | sbarry@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD — For the first time, federal agents and state police conducted very public raids on the Mardi Gras strip club Wednesday morning, despite the bar and its owner being the subject of intense law enforcement scrutiny for more than two decades.

The lead agency was the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, indicating the alleged basis for the search warrant, granted by a federal magistrate judge, is financial wrongdoing.

While Mardi Gras owner James Santaniello has not been prosecuted for organized crime offenses for decades, he has been mob-adjacent for equally as long.

As he amassed an impressive portfolio of Greater Springfield strip joints, restaurants, poker machine outfits and real estate holdings, Santaniello, of Longmeadow, could scarcely get out from under organized crime figures who nipped at his heels for kickbacks, or “profit-sharing” partnerships. That’s according to court records reviewed by The Republican over years of research.

The IRS, FBI and the Massachusetts State Police Organized Crime Unit descended on the strip club on Taylor Street as well as Victor Bruno’s Adolfo’s Ristorante on Worthington Street. Agents and troopers also hit Santaniello’s and Bruno’s homes in Longmeadow and Connecticut, respectively.


An official with the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Kristina O’Connell, declined to talk about the underlying details of the investigation.

Both the Mardi Gras and Adolfo’s have been up for sale.

Multiple sources familiar with the investigations say the common thread between the two raids is purported Russian cash buyers to whom the owners disclosed they had a second set of books. The buyers were undercover IRS agents, sources told The Republican. The investigations are separate, however.

Outside his restaurant on Wednesday morning, Bruno said he would consider shutting Adolfo’s down for good, but said agents were welcome to whatever records they sought...

Peach Bottom DG Cable Short: Everything Wrong With The NRC

You notice they are using the unqualified flex system to minimize this violation. Now adays the inspectors are just sitting on their asses all day long because the upper levels got them neutered. Why didn't the inspectors catch this before the short? This kind of shit is happening all over the industry and they are willingly blinded themselves. Honestly, altruism is the biggest evil in the cosmos and it compromises everything especially good people This is only going to deepen.

All I can say is think about the Boeing 737 max problem. Basically the whole Boeing organization and regulators went crazy over financial pressures.     

E-1 Emergency Diesel Generator Failure Due to a Cable Fault Cornerstone Significance Cross-Cutting Aspect 

Report Section
Mitigating Systems

Green NCV 05000277,05000278/2019003-01  Open/Closed

[P.3] - Resolution
71152
The inspectors identified a self-revealing, Green non-cited violation (NCV) associated with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, “Corrective Action,” because Exelon did not identify and correct a condition adverse to quality associated with the E-1 emergency diesel generator (EDG).  Specifically, Exelon did not implement their cable monitoring program testing on the E-1 diesel and, as a result, did not identify a condition adverse to quality associated with an underground cable prior to its failure during a surveillance test on May 29, 2019, which resulted in the E-1 diesel being declared inoperable. Description:  Peach Bottom has four EDGs that supply emergency power (4kV) to both Unit 2 and Unit 3.  The electricity is transferred from the generator through nine aluminum conductors, underground from the EDG building to the turbine building.  The E-1 diesel provides emergency power to the E-11 and E-12 safety busses.  

During a monthly surveillance run of the E-1 EDG on May 29, 2019, the engine was running for approximately 30 seconds, unloaded with the field flashed, when it unexpectedly tripped from an overcurrent protection relay.  The E-1 diesel was immediately declared inoperable and Exelon commenced troubleshooting.  Exelon determined, through cable testing, that the cause of the trip was a faulted ‘B’ phase cable that connected the generator to the 4kV breaker.  Due to parts availability and limiting condition for operation time constraints, Exelon performed a temporary modification to abandon the ‘B’ phase cables and reduce the number of energized conductors from nine to six.  Exelon performed an engineering analysis to conclude that the remaining six conductors had sufficient capacity to support the maximum diesel loading.  Exelon restored the diesel to operable on June 2, 2019. 

Exelon entered the E-1 cable fault condition into the CAP under issue report (IR) 4256520 and performed a root cause evaluation.  The root cause evaluation determined that the direct cause of the failure was degraded cable insulation likely due to the cables being exposed to adverse environmental conditions for an extended period of time.  It further concluded that the engineering cable program owners and their managers did not effectively use the CAP to identify and resolve gaps in the cable program prior to the E-1 EDG cable failure.  Specifically, the cable monitoring program, ER-AA-300-150, requires the station to perform tan-delta testing of the EDG cables and at the time of failure, these cables had not yet been tested in accordance with the frequency required by the program.  Tan-delta testing is an industry-accepted method of testing the health of insulation for electrical power cables.  The station had originally attempted testing of the cables in 2013; however, they were unsuccessful due to perceived interference with the test equipment as documented in IR 1511027.  This IR was closed to a work order (WO) that was never performed.  Furthermore, in 2016, a self-assessment discovered that the 2013 WO was inappropriately closed out and created IR 2651755; however, no WO was created from this IR.  Again, in 2017, Exelon identified that the 2016 WO was not created and created IR 3963696.  Under this IR, Exelon created an action tracking assignment to reschedule the cable testing...

Exelon: Utter Corruption With The Utilities and the Nukes?

And nuclear power is in the middle of it.

Rich Miller: Investigation slows ComEd/Exelon

Rich Miller Capitol Fax
51 min ago

The political muscle of ComEd/Exelon aced its last major test in 2016, when the energy companies finally passed what one Illinois House member referred to at the time as a "multibillion dollar corporate bailout" by electricity ratepayers to keep two of its nuclear power plants open.

The vote came after that year's election during the fall veto session, and it passed despite the fact that the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner had not agreed on a state budget for nearly a year and a half. It was one of only a tiny handful of bipartisan bills signed into law during Rauner's term.

ComEd has had its shares of ups and downs in Springfield. It thrived under Gov. Jim Thompson, who strongly supported its push to build a large nuclear fleet. But most subsequent governors took a more populist position. And by the early 2000s, legislators felt ignored and even disrespected by the company.

That all eventually turned around as ComEd started catering to legislators in order to improve its Statehouse standing. The company stopped trying to ram through previously unseen legislation at the last possible minute in 2011, but had earlier made it much easier for members to do things like call in to check on constituent power outages, for instance. But, more importantly, jobs, contracts and other favors like keeping constituents' electricity service on when they couldn't afford to pay soon proliferated.

Like many large bureaucracies, once the corporate giant finally changed course it kept following that new route and continued expanding and "perfecting" its mission long after it should've moderated itself. It appears that it may have gotten sloppy, or much worse.

The company had been gearing up earlier this year to pass another major bill, which included locking in its favorable rate system for another decade. But then all the energy bills were suddenly set aside until the fall veto session.

That all eventually turned around as ComEd started catering to legislators in order to improve its Statehouse standing. The company stopped trying to ram through previously unseen legislation at the last possible minute in 2011, but had earlier made it much easier for members to do things like call in to check on constituent power outages, for instance. But, more importantly, jobs, contracts and other favors like keeping constituents' electricity service on when they couldn't afford to pay soon proliferated.

Like many large bureaucracies, once the corporate giant finally changed course it kept following that new route and continued expanding and "perfecting" its mission long after it should've moderated itself. It appears that it may have gotten sloppy, or much worse.

The company had been gearing up earlier this year to pass another major bill, which included locking in its favorable rate system for another decade. But then all the energy bills were suddenly set aside until the fall veto session.

The federal investigation of the company has since killed its bill for the immediately foreseeable future. The probe began in earnest in May with search warrants served on Statehouse insider and House Speaker Michael Madigan confidante Mike McClain (a former ComEd lobbyist who played an instrumental role in the company's many Springfield successes) and former Ald. Mike Zalewski over what the Chicago Tribune claimed at the time was a probe into how the former Chicago alderman with close political ties to Madigan received a ComEd contract.

ComEd and Exelon have since revealed that they've been subpoenaed twice by a federal grand jury, once over its "lobbying activities" and then for its "communications" with individuals including Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago). The search warrant of Sandoval's Statehouse office listed four unnamed Exelon officials.

The probe hasn't just toppled the company's legislative agenda. Fidel Marquez, the company's senior vice president of governmental and external affairs, and the CEO of Exelon Utilities Anne Pramaggiore, who had been ComEd's president and then CEO during its successful legislative run, have both suddenly retired.

The case could involve literally hundreds of favors over the years which combine to possibly form a pattern of corruption.

And then WBEZ reported that federal authorities are actually looking into whether ComEd hired "multiple politically connected employees and consultants in exchange for favorable government actions, including electricity rate increases." Many did "little or no work" and some had ties to Speaker Madigan, according to the story authored by Dan Mihalopoulos, Dave McKinney and Tony Arnold.

The story also reported that as of Oct. 18, Hooker is no longer working as a ComEd registered lobbyist through Mike Kasper, a major Statehouse lobbyist who also does a lot of legal work for Speaker Madigan.

But beyond whatever ComEd and Exelon may have done, what will be truly fascinating is if the feds ever publish a list of politicians who allegedly got sweet favors in return for their votes. That could be a long one.

...The utility who is overly dependent with obsolete nuclear plants. You know when women have reached the heights when they become deep in male style corruption.

Chief of Exelon’s Utility Business Retires During Federal Probe

Joe Ryan

BloombergOctober 16, 2019

(Bloomberg) -- The head of Exelon Corp.’s utility unit has abruptly retired amid a federal probe involving its lobbying in Illinois.

Anne Pramaggiore, senior executive vice president and chief executive officer of Exelon Utilities, is leaving “effective immediately,” the company said in a statement Tuesday. Calvin Butler Jr., chief of Exelon’s Baltimore Gas and Electric utility, was named as her interim replacement.

Pramaggiore’s departure comes less than a week after Exelon disclosed in a regulatory filing that it received a subpoena from federal prosecutors asking for information related to communications with Illinois State Senator Martin Sandoval. In July, Exelon disclosed it received a subpoena related to its lobbying activities in Illinois.

Exelon fell as much as 2.3% Wednesday.

Pramaggiore’s sudden exit following the subpoenas “cannot be interpreted in any other way as being directly related to each other,” Greg Gordon, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said in a research note. It increases the risk that the company could be under scrutiny for criminal behavior, he said.

“The situation looks unpalatable in the short term but a lot of risk looks priced in,” Gordon said.

The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this month that federal agents had raided Sandoval’s office and were searching for information related to concrete and construction businesses and lobbyists and public officials. Officials were also looking for “items related to any official action taken in exchange for a benefit,” the Tribune reported, citing documents released by the Illinois Senate.

Exelon’s statement on Pramaggiore’s retirement Tuesday didn’t reference the subpoenas. Nor did it give a reason for her departure.

“We thank Anne for her valuable service,” Exelon CEO Chris Crane said in the statement. “We are confident this will be a smooth transition.”

(Adds analyst comment in fifth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Will Wade.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Ryan in New York at jryan173@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Joe Carroll

Militarily Abandoning Syria and A Warning Iran

This is our US military consolidating our position in the middle east preparing to go to war with Iran. A message to Iran: Do you think there is any advantage to hit us now with a bigger 9/11.

This is the adage of poking a mad dog and allowing him to strike you first. The pre-story of WW II and Bin Lauden.  

Sounds LIke Fermi is Desperate?

Was the guy who was canned a burnt offering to the NRC? 

DTE hires Navy vet to head Fermi 2 nuclear plant

DTE Energy has named a Navy veteran and longtime industry leader as its new chief nuclear officer.

Peter Dietrich is responsible for overall operations at the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant. The Fermi 2 is a 1,200-MW facility along the shore of Lake Erie in southern Michigan.

Prior to joining Detroit-based DTE, Dietrich was chief nuclear officer for the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. and Nawah Energy Co. He also worked in leadership roles for Southern Edison, including chief nuclear officer.

Other nuclear plants where Dietrich served in executive levels include the James A. Fitzgerald and Pilgrim stations.

Dietrich succeeds Paul Fessler, who has served at DTE for more than 41 years. Fessler...

Framatome Weld Problems: Why Is This a Secret Meeting?

October 4, 2019

Closed Meeting Notice

Organization: Framatome Inc. Date & Time:  October 18, 2019, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Location:   NRC One White Flint North, O4B6 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD Purpose: Framatome representatives will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff a status of Framatome evaluations and potential conclusion as it related to those welds identified to be in deviation from the requirements of Section III of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code. Category:  This is a Closed meeting.  This meeting is closed to the public because it contains trade secrets and commercial or financial information (proprietary information) that will be discussed during the meeting. Participants: NRC      External  Kerri Kavanagh    Victor Montalbano, Framatome David Rudland    Jeff Fleck, Framatome Steven Bloom     Brian Haibach, Framatome Kamal Manoly     Ashok Nana, Framatome       Tim Wiger, Framatome        Gary Peters, Framatome

Contact: Kerri Kavanagh (301)415-3743;  kerri.kavanagh@nrc.gov  Paul Prescott    (301)415-3026;  paul.prescott@nrc.gov  Docket No.  99901300 Enclosure: Agenda

2


CLOSED MEETING AGENDA Framatome Evaluations of Deviations of Weld Requirements Deviations from Technical Standards October 18, 2019, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM NRC One White Flint North, O4B6 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD

Time     Topic    Speaker Closed Session 9:00 AM  Introduction and Opening Remarks   NRC/Framatome 9:10 AM  Background information of the identified deviation Framatome 9:30 AM  Results of Evaluations and Calculations   Framatome • ASME B&PV Code • Part 21 10:30 AM  10 minutes Break 10:40 AM  Technical Questions     NRC 11:30 AM  Next Steps      Framatome/NRC 11:40 AM  Opportunity for Comments    Licensees 11:55 AM  Closing Remarks     NRC/Framatome 12:00 PM  Adjourn 

Vogtle 3&4: Supervisior and Two Employees Falsifying Drug Testing

I don't see any attempt to find out how widespread the drug falsification is?    

EA-19-089
 Mr. Michael Yox  Regulatory Affairs Director  Southern Nuclear Operating Company Vogtle 3 & 4  7835 River Road, Bldg. 140  Waynesboro, GA 30830
 SUBJECT: NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATION REPORT 2-2018-0029

Dear Mr. Yox:
 This refers to the investigation completed on July 23, 2019, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Office of Investigations (OI), at Southern Nuclear Company’s (SNC) Vogtle Nuclear Plant Units 3 & 4 construction project.  The investigation was conducted to determine if a contract supervisor and two contract employees at Southern Nuclear Operating Company's Vogtle Electrical Generating Plant, Unit 3 (Vogtle), in Waynesboro, Georgia, willfully violated a licensee procedure regarding compliance with fitness for duty (FFD) requirements, which included any attempt to subvert the required testing process.  Based on the investigation, OI did substantiate that a contract supervisor and one contract employee deliberately violated a licensee procedure regarding compliance with FFD requirements in that they attempted to subvert the required testing process.
 After considering the information developed during the investigation, the NRC has concluded no further action is warranted. This decision was made after considering corrective actions you have taken to resolve the issues.  Specifically, SNC performed an investigation, substantiated the concerns, developed appropriate corrective actions and ultimately placed all three individuals in question into the Personnel Access Data System (PADS) with a lifetime ban.

Fermi's Confirmatory Letter Over Torus Paint

Updated 9

Oct 8

Mr. Heller,

It is thoughtful of you to notify me about the degraded torus paint job. I am surprised to first see up as a CL and not a violation. It is interesting remembering seeing this kind of problem many decades ago and then this guy shows. 

I just tried to look up this document and it doesn't seem on your site yet.  

Heller, James <James.Heller@nrc.gov>

To:Michael Mulligan

Oct 8 at 1:08 PM

Mike - - one more time.  I am told it is available for public view

 

Jim

NRC Issues Confirmatory Action Letter to Fermi Nuclear Power Plant

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2019/19-021.iii.pdf

***

Confirmatory Action Letter - Fermi Power Plant, Unit 2 Commitment to Address Degraded Torus Coatings

Yahoo/Inbox

• 
  

  Heller, James <James.Heller@nrc.gov>

  To:steamshovel2002@yahoo.com

  Cc:Taylor, Thomas

  Oct 7 at 6:22 PM

  
  

  Mike - - my name is Jim Heller.  I am the Region III senior allegation coordinator.  It has been a while since we talked.  I believe the last time was about 7 months ago when we talked about Licensee Event Reports that addressed relieve valve testing at LaSalle.

   

  On 7/12/2019, you talked to Tom Taylor, NRC Fermi Senior Resident Inspector, and discussed the special inspection that was underway to look at torus coating degradation.  Tom provided me his notes from the  conversation between you and him.  Tom correctly informed you that any information developed during the inspection was pre-decisional  and he was unable to discuss or comment on any of the information developed during the inspection.  Based on Tom’s email to me I made a mental note to provide you information as it became publicly available. 

   

  I believe ADAMS Accession Number ML19280D881 has information applicable to the subject you discussed with Tom.  The document title is “Confirmatory Action Letter - Fermi Power Plant, Unit 2 Commitment to Address Degraded Torus Coatings”

   

  Any questions please call

   

  Jim Heller,

  Senior Allegation Coordinator

  My office number is 630-810-4374

Blockbusting Drought Heading For South This summer?

I was living in Atlanta Georgia during the great drought of 2007-2008. Lived right next to Lake Lanier. Basically over development without building adequate infrastructure...like reservors. The 
Chattahoochee had big troubles low river flows and too much water withdrawals for cities and industry. It seemed at the time barge traffic on the river was more important than drinking water. It is a large section of society living on the edge.  

Blistering heat and little rain is causing a 'flash drought' in the South

Doyle Rice, USA TODat Updated 1:39 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2019

The South has endured a double whammy of blistering heat and a lack of significant rainfall over the past few weeks, triggering what climate experts are calling a "flash drought."

The drought, which is affecting 45 million people in 14 states, is cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires.

“Typically we look at drought as being a slow onset, slow-developing type phenomenon compared to other disasters that rapidly happen, so this flash drought term came about,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center. “The idea is that it’s more of a rapidly developing drought situation compared to what we typically see.”