Monthly Archives: February 2011

Safety systems down at five nukes over weekend

Posted on February 28, 2011 by

A number of nukes were without one of their safety systems for a part of the weekend: 1. Limerick Unit 2 in Pennsylvania had to be scrammed Friday morning due to a trip of both recirculation pumps. This morning’s Reactor Status … Continue reading →

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Drunken supervisor at Illinois nuke

Posted on February 25, 2011 by

LaSalle nuclear power plant reported today to the NRC that a contract supervisor had tested positive for alcohol on a random Fitness for Duty test. The employee’s access to the plant has been suspended.

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San Antonio may be back in STNP expansion….

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

Very depressing news from the San Antonio Express-News this afternoon: CPS Energy could end up buying additional nuclear power from the proposed plant expansion at the South Texas Project if the terms are favorable, CEODoyle Beneby told the Express-News editorial board … Continue reading →

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Decommissioning Illinois nuke to cost $900 million

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

One more pricetag when figuring the lifetime costs of nuclear power — decommissioning.   The Lake County News-Sun carried a piece on decommissioning the Zion nuclear plant in Illinois today: Zion Solutions … expects to complete the project by 2021. A 2007 estimate … Continue reading →

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Some more reactor problems

Posted on February 23, 2011 by

A couple of items from today’s NRC Event Reports: 1. Dresden Units 2 & 3 reported release of heated water bypassing the cooling lake yesterday. The intentuional discharge was the result of rising water levels due to the failure of … Continue reading →

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A busy weekend for reactor problems

Posted on February 22, 2011 by

NRC Event Reports for the long Presidents Day weekend included a slew of reactor problems: 1. Early Friday morning, technicians at Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 discovered what they terms an ‘inactive’ boric acid leak on a heater pipe in the … Continue reading →

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UN official talks about advantages of solar over nuclear power

Posted on February 20, 2011 by

The Khaleej Times Online is running an essay tomorrow by Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and UN Environmental Programme Director. Steiner says:  A nuclear power plant can take 10-15 years to build, and a coal-fired power station around five … Continue reading →

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“Time to Remember Why We Were Opposed to Nuclear Power in the First Place” revised and updated

Posted on February 20, 2011 by

 (This is an expanded version of something I had previously posted.) When the idea of expanding the South Texas Nuclear Project (I refuse to acknowledge the PR-driven name change that dropped the word Nuclear) was first proposed, Austin had a … Continue reading →

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Radiation leak forces evacuation at South Korean research reactor

Posted on February 20, 2011 by

  Reuters carried this earlier today:   (South Korean news agency) Yonhap reported that a radioactive substance rose to the surface of a water tank when researchers were working to make a semiconductor wafer at a nuclear reactor, which set off … Continue reading →

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Repair bill for California nuke: $670 million

Posted on February 18, 2011 by

Short piece from AP today: ********************************************* San Onofre nuke plant completes costly retrofit The Associated Press Posted: 02/18/2011 07:43:22 AM PST Updated: 02/18/2011 07:43:22 AM PST DANA POINT, Calif.—The San Onofre nuclear power plant has returned to full power after completing a … Continue reading →

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