NRCfile photo of Fermi 2 on the Lake Erie shorelineThe Monroe Evening News in Michigan reported on June 10th:
Fermi fuel transfer being delayed
DTE Energy will delay moving used nuclear fuel from inside its Fermi 2 plant to outside casks until spring, due to lingering questions about how an earthquake might impact the process.
At key issue appears to be whether the first floor of the reactor building at the plant could withstand a severe earthquake while bearing the additional 300,000-pound weight of a fully loaded fuel storage cask.
The company said as part of a continuing “rigorous review and analysis,” it decided further evaluation was needed regarding the impact that a seismic event would have on the first floor of the reactor building while loaded casks are being moved to the new outside storage pad.
The plant needs to load the used fuel into casks and move them to the outside storage area because it is running out of room for fuel in the storage pool in the reactor building. The utility had planned to transfer the fuel this summer, but now expects to do so after a refueling shutdown that will end sometime in April.
“This has to do with us asking the safety question as to what would happen during an earthquake in the short time that canister is there and the stability of the floor in that area where there is a fully loaded dry fuel container,” said Guy Cerullo, a DTE Energy spokesman at the plant. “If there was no earthquake, it’s not an issue.”
The utility has informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the change in its expected timetable. It said it would continue to conduct a safety analysis and explore its options. Those options could include physical reinforcement of the reactor building or floor, Mr. Cerullo said.
“This is a very short period of time that the condition exists,” Mr. Cerullo said. “It’s measured in minutes – less than a half hour – and it occurs infrequently, but we’re committed to safety in every aspect of the dry fuel storage process.”
“It’s important to remember, too, that this doesn’t affect the normal operation of the plant. There’s nothing wrong with the way the reactor building is made. It’s built to withstand 10 times the strongest earthquake we’ve had in the last 100 years.”
He said the company would be considering its options over the next several months, design alternatives, review them with the NRC and then implement them.
Reinforcement of the reactor building or floor could be among the options the company would consider to address the matter.
Meanwhile, the company has enough fuel storage capacity in its fuel pool through the next refueling shutdown next spring, he said.
The utility only recently grappled with NRC questions about whether the concrete storage pad that will hold the fuel-filled casks would endure a severe earthquake. It satisfied safety regulators after redoing calculations on the pad.
The plan is to load the heavy fuel in 64 vertical casks arrayed on the 141-foot-square concrete storage pad. The casks, each about 20 feet high, 11 feet in diameter and made of 2-foot-thick concrete, would stand on the 2-foot-thick concrete pad.