Fire latest emergency at problem-plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported that a fire, cutting power to ventilation in the reactor control room at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant near Toledo, prompted owner/operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) to notify federal and state officials of an emergency alert status for several hours last week. The fire was caused by a faulty valve in a pipe carrying purified water to the reactor core, which leaked onto an electrical switchbox, causing an electrical arc and fire. Luckily, the reactor has been shut down since October 1st for major repairs, including the removal of the plant's 82 ton, corroded, second reactor lid. Severe corrosion on the reactor's original lid in 2002 represented the most infamous close call to a disaster at a U.S. atomic reactor since the 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island. A giant hole cut in radiological containment structures for the reactor lid "transplant operation" revealed a 30 foot long crack in the reinforced concrete shield building, as well as additional cracks in the shield building. Despite this, FENOC hopes to persuade the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow it to restart Davis-Besse by the end of November. Beyond Nuclear has joined forces with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio in an intervention opposing FENOC's proposed 2017 to 2037 license extension at the now 35 year old reactor. On Halloween, while Beyond Nuclear performed an "I Have a Scream!" protest against radioactive waste at Energy Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., our environmental coalition allies performed a solidarity action in Toledo against Davis-Besse. A week earlier, they held a press conference about the cracks, calling on the Toledo City Council to pass a resolution urging Davis-Besse's permanent closure, which the Cleveland Plain Dealer covered.

UCS questions NRC on Davis-Besse shield building status prior to reactor restart

NRC inspector examines cracking in Davis-Besse atomic reactor shield building wallDavid Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, has written the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission questioning whether or not NRC has adequately inspected cracking in the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's exterior shield building, and whether this aspect of the design can still fulfill its radiologically protective function against external threats, such as tornado missiles. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported upon this story, as has Canada's Windsor Star. On October 20th, NRC issued a Preliminary Notification of Occurrence (PNO).

Beyond Nuclear, along with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario (quoted extensively in the Windsor Star article), Don't Waste Michigan, and the Ohio Green Party, have won standing and the admission for hearing of several contentions against the 20 year license extension sought by FirstEnergy nuclear utility at its problem plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor. Davis-Besse is now 35 years old. Its original 40 year long operating license will expire on Earth Day (April 22), 2017, but FirstEnergy is seeking permission from NRC to run Davis-Besse till 2037. In the past dozen years, NRC has rubberstamped 75 reactor license extensions, leaving fewer than 30 reactors at which it hasn't yet approved 60 years of operations.

"Humpty Dumpty, King Kong spotted at Davis-Besse protest"

King Kong applied nuclear-grade duct tape to a very cracked Humpty Dumpty at an "I Have a Scream!" Halloween protest held in Toledo in solidarity with Beyond Nuclear's rally at the Department of Energy's headquarters in Washington D.C. The Toledo street theater called attention to cracks in the Davis-Besse atomic reactor's shield building first revealed on October 1st. Just today, further cracking was admitted by FirstEnergy, as reported by Bloomberg. Beyond Nuclear, along with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Ohio Green Party, have intervened against the 20 year license extension sought by FirstEnergy at Davis-Besse, despite the reactor's many close calls with disaster over the past 34 years. Toledo attorney Terry Lodge represents the environmental coalition pro bono.

NRC rules that old reactor license extension proceedings will continue full steam ahead, despite Fukushima

As reported by the Newburyport News, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has decided to proceed "full steam ahead" with the Seabrook license extension proceeding, despite a legal intervention by Beyond Nuclear and environmental allies to suspend the proceeding in the wake of the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe.

In addition, Beyond Nuclear at the Fermi 3 new reactor proceeding, and the Davis-Besse license extension proceeding, and environmental allies at many additional old and new reactor proceedings, including new reactor design certification proceedings, have been rebuffed by the NRC Commissioners in a parallel call for license and design certification proceeding suspensions in the wake of Fukushima. At the time of the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979, the NRC effectively suspended any and all license proceedings for a year and half. Not so this time, in the aftermath of the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

NRC's ruling is an outrage, but should not be a surprise. NRC has rubberstamped every single license extension application since 2000 -- around 75 thus far. Ironically, the 5 NRC Commissioners rubberstampmed Vermont Yankee's 20 year license extension on March 10th, the day before the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe began; perhaps worse, NRC staff finalized the paperwork on the Vermont Yankee license extension on March 28th -- ironically, the 32nd anniversary of the Three Mile Island meltdown -- 17 days after the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe began; Vermont Yankee is of the identical same design as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4 -- General Electric Boiling Water Reactor Mark 1.

Update on September 17, 2011 by admin

The Patriot Ledger has also reported this story, in the context of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant near Boston, Massachusetts. In this case, NRC rejected filings by not only an environmental watchdog, Pilgrim Watch, but even the State of Massachusetts Attorney General's office. A unique exception to NRC's full speed rubber stamp of 20 year license extensions, Mary "Pixie" Lampert at Pilgrim Watch has managed to keep the Pilgrim license extension proceeding tied up for going-on six years now, raising issues such as related to significantly flawed "severe accident mitigation alternatives" (SAMA) analyses. Mary has generously assisted Beyond Nuclear with similar contentions in its intervention against the Davis-Besse license extension in Ohio.

"Locals lambaste Seabrook"

The Seacoast Online quotes Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter, and other environmental opponents to a 20 year license extension at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, during a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission environmental scoping meeting.