NRC Office of Investigations launches probe into Palisades SIRW storage tank leak

Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor is located on the shore of Lake Michigan, drinking water supply for tens of millions downstreamAs reported by the St. Joe Herald-Palladium, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Investigations (OI) has launced a special probe into the leakage of up to 31.4 gallons per day of acidic and radioactive water from the Safety Injection Refueling Water (SIRW) storage tank into the control room and auxiliary building of Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor in Covert, MI on Lake Michigan's southeastern shoreline. WSJM radio reports that Palisades' PR spokesman Mark Savage denies any safety significance.

The Associated Press has also reported on this story. A Detroit News opinion column also comments on this story, including that "The tank was being refilled when, Tuesday night, new leaks appeared, and at 9 p.m., it was shut down." Entergy Nuclear appears to be in a hurry to re-start Palisades!

In addition, as the Kalamazoo Gazette reports, the NRC is demanding a copy from Entergy Nuclear of an internal survey of Palisades' workforce, revealing a complete collapse of safety culture at the atomic reactor, including fears of retaliation and harassment for questioning management decisions or raising safety concerns. As spelled out in its letter to Entergy, NRC defines safety culture as "the core values and behaviors resulting from a collective commitment by leaders and individuals to emphasize safety over competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment."

Although a June 12th shutdown made the leak known to the public, it took U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), Ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee and a senior Democrat on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, writing NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko, to shed light on the safety significance of the leak. Markey was prompted to write NRC by a letter from Billie Garde, a D.C.-based attorney who has represented nuclear whistleblowers for decades. Garde's June 14th letter revealed that the leak had not only been going on for a full year, but involved leakage into the control room and auxiliary building.

Dave Lochbaum at UCS explains that, as shown by inleakage of radioactive water due to this leak, inleakage of radioactive air into the "Control Room Envelope" -- occupied by reactor operators and other personnel -- during an accident is also a concern.

"Inleakage is a problem" at Palisades atomic reactor

The inleakage of radioactive and acidic water into the control room at Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor has shed light on related problems.

As explained by nuclear engineer Dave Lochbaum, director of the nuclear safety program at Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), if radioactive water can leak into the control room during "normal operations," air must also be able to leak in.

 

Entergy Nuclear submitted a license amendment request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on August 21, 2007. Entergy sought to revise its technical specifications for what is called the "control room envelope" at Palisades. The "control room envelope" is the area within which reactor operators and other personell must work during both "normal" as well as disaster situations. At page 39 of 47 in the document, Entergy provides the proposed bases for the Control Room Ventilation Filtration technical specification.

As Lochbaum concludes, "Inleakage is a problem."

"Nuclear Rubberstamp Commission" by Karl Grossman

Investigative journalist, and Beyond Nuclear board of directors member, Karl Grossman (pictured, left), has published an article entitled "Nuclear Rubberstamp Commission" which has appeared at the Huffington Post and elsewhere. In it, Karl reports that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman, Dr. Gregory Jaczko, has been pressured to resign over a year early due to withering attacks by the nuclear power industry and its friends within the NRC and on Capitol Hill, due to his safety advocacy. Karl points out that NRC has never, in its nearly 40 years of existence, denied a license to construct or operate a commercial atomic reactor. It has also rubberstamped 73 license extensions for 20 additional years of operation at U.S. atomic reactors, with 13 other license extensions already applied for.

Environmental coalition, concerned residents, met with NRC Chairman Jaczko after his tour of problem-plagued Palisades

Michael Keegan, Alice Hirt, and Kevin Kamps of Don't Waste MI call for Palisades' shutdown at the August 2000 Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp. The reactor's cooling tower steam, as well as Lake Michigan, are visible in the background.On May 25th, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko toured Entergy Nuclear's Palisades atomic reactor in Covert, MI on the Lake Michigan shoreline. NRC lowered Palisades' safety status to one of the four worst-run reactors in the U.S., out of 104 operating, after five euphemistically termed "unplanned shutdowns" in 2011 alone. After Jaczko's tour of the plant, he held a press conference with area media, then met with representatives of environmental groups from Michigan and Illinois, as well as concerned local residents. The environmental coalition included Beyond Nuclear, Clean Water Action, Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, Don't Waste Michigan, League of Women Voters, Michigan Land Trustees, and Nuclear Energy Information Service. The environmental movement of Michigan, and beyond, has long called for Palisades' permanent shutdown, for a multitude of safety and environmental reasons.

The single greatest safety concern, of many afflicting Palisades, is embrittlement of its reactor pressure vessel, the worst in the U.S. Michael Keegan of Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes (pictured, left) warned about this in 1993; a year ago, the Associated Press exposed NRC's weakening of embrittlement safety regulations in order to allow Palisades to keep running. But Palisades' replacements of age-degraded steam generators (for the second time in the plant's history) as well as its reactor lid -- in the aftermath of the Davis-Besse, Ohio "Hole-in-the-Head" near-disaster -- are more than five years overdue. Palisades is thus deep into its "break-down" phase of increased reactor accident risk, as termed by David Lochbaum of Union of Concerned Scientists on his "Bathtub Curve" graphic (so named because of the curve's shape). Citizens Nuclear Information Center-Tokyo has just reported alarming news about reactor pressure vessel embrittlement/pressurized thermal shock risks at Japanese reactors.

Beyond Nuclear issued a statement, as did Don't Waste MI's Alice Hirt (pictured, left): "We do not want a Fukushima here on the shore of Lake Michigan...We plead with you to help us close down this plant NOW." Area summertime resident Gail Snyder also issued a statement.

WMUK, the NPR radio station in Kalamazoo, MI, interviewed Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps (pictured, left) about reactor risks at Palisades. Kevin warned that NRC should shut Palisades down, before it melts down (the Associated Press quoted this as well), because the reactor is the worst embrittled in the U.S., with age-degraded steam generators and reactor lid, and vitally needs fire protection upgrades. Entergy promised to make these repairs over five years ago when it took over ownership from Consumers Energy at Palisades, but has broken these promises. Michigan Radio also quoted Kevin.  The Kalamazoo Gazette also reported on this story, as did theSt. Joe Herald-Palladium.

Kalamazoo News Channel 3 interviewed Maynard Kaufman and Barbara Geisler of Michigan Land Trustees in Bangor, less than 10 miles from Palisades. They warned of risks to west Michigan's vibrant shoreline agriculture from a Fukushima- or Chernobyl-like disaster. Grand Rapids TV 8 also reported on this story. TV 57 in South Bend, IN also briefly reported on Jaczko's visit.

Fire at closed San Onofre nuclear plant

Despite being shuttered for months, a fire broke out at the already troubled San Onofre nuclear plant in southern California that has been closed since January 31 after a steam tube ruptured and released radioactive steam. The fire was quickly extinguished but environmental organizations and local groups are engaged in keeping the two reactors at the dangerous facility permanently shut down. Even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed that the plant should not reopen for the time being given problems with the piping and while officials conduct technical investigations at both reactors. The plant sits on a beach near San Clemente in a popular surfing area.