New report on zombie reactor at Bellefonte, Alabama

On August 10th, 2011, Fairewinds Associates published a report commissioned by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) regarding the Tennessee Valley Authority's proposal to attempt to resurrect a long abandoned nuclear power plant project at Bellefonte, Alabama. Arnie Gundersen summarizes his report in a video posted on the Fairewinds website. SACE published a media release, which includes a link to the full report by Gundersen.

NRC slaps FirstEnergy for safety violations at Perry

NRC file photo of FirstEnergy's Perry nuclear power plant on the Lake Erie shore northeast of ClevelandThe Plain Dealer of Cleveland has reported that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has cited the FirstEnergy nuclear utility with a "white finding" of "low to moderate" safety significance after four contract workers were briefly exposed to high radiation levels due to poorly written procedures involving a task near the reactor core. The article quotes Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps: "Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, a group opposed to nuclear energy, said Perry's problems are not as isolated from Davis-Besse's past problems as one would think. 'All the hooting and hollering about the need to improve FirstEnergy's 'safety culture' after the Davis-Besse hole-in-the-head fiasco of 2002 comes to mind,' he said. 'Apparently that 'safety culture' isn't as fixed as FirstEnergy and even the NRC would like the public to believe.' "

FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant came closer than any other U.S. reactor since the Three Mile Island meltdown of 1979 to a major accident, due to severe corrosion of its reactor lid. Beyond Nuclear, in coalition with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwest Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio, has won standing and the admittance of several contentions against the 20 year license extension sought by FirstEnergy at Davis-Besse.

Nuclear Power Gone Wrong 101: Lochbaum & Gundersen on what happened at Fukushima, and how it could happen here

In a video entitled "Why Fukushima Can Happen Here: What the NRC and Nuclear Industry Don't Want You to Know" posted at the Fairewinds Associates website, nuclear engineers Dave Lochbaum of Union of Concerned Scientists and Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds explain what went wrong at Fukushima Daiichi, then show how similar catastrophes can happen right here in the U.S., not only in General Electric boiling water reactors of the Mark 1 containment design, but in any atomic reactor. The event, sponsored by C-10 and other environmental groups, took place in June 2011 at the Boston Public Library.

"Influx of jellyfish" shut down St. Lucie

This just in:

A daily event report filed by St. Lucie nuclear power plant in Florida to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reveals:

"MANUAL REACTOR TRIP DUE TO RISING CONDENSER BACKPRESSURE"

"On August 22, 2011 at 1513 [hrs. EDT], Unit 1 was manually tripped due to rising condenser backpressure. All CEAs fully inserted into the core. Decay heat removal was initially from main feedwater and steam bypass to the main condenser. The cause of the rising back pressure was an influx of jellyfish into the intake structure, degrading the circulating water system performance...

Unit 2 is in Mode 1, currently at 70 % power. Unit 2 power is being reduced from 100% in response to the influx of jellyfish."

NRC, Entergy reach agreement regarding quality assurance, retaliation against workers for raising safety concerns

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a media release, "NRC ISSUES CONFIRMATORY ORDER TO ENTERGY WITH ACTIONS TO IMPROVE QUALITY CONTROL AND EMPLOYEE CONCERNS PROGRAMS." NRC and Entergy Nuclear have reached agreement, through a "neutral mediator," regarding safety significant quality assurance practices, as well as resolving allegations by workers that Entergy retaliates against them for raising safety concerns. NRC refers to this "neutral mediation" as its "Alternative Dispute Resolution process." Why the federal regulatory agency charged with protecting public health, safety, and the environment had to undergo "neutral mediation" with Entergy, rather than simply cracking down on the licensee's safety and workplace violations, is not explained. The agreement applies at 11 atomic reactors owned and operated by Entergy: Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2, James Fitzpatrick (NY), Grand Gulf (MS), Indian Point Units 2 and 3 (NY), Palisades (MI), Pilgrim (MA), River Bend (LA), Vermont Yankee, and Waterford 3 (LA).