Monthly Archives: January 2012

Event Report: Faulty fuel temperature indicator found at University of Texas research reactor‏

I live in Austin, Texas, about 15 miles from the University of Texas’ research reactor. (It used to be closer, but the University moved the little bugger from the main campus and set up shop in North Austin, right across … Continue reading

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Event Report: Emergency declared at Virginia nuke following 3.2 aftershock from August earthquake

Dominion Power notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it had issued a Notification of Unusual Event (NOUE) at its North Anna nuclear power plant early yesterday evening after experiencing a 3.2 magnitude earthquake at the facility in Virginia. The NOUE … Continue reading

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Event Report: Update on loss of power incident at Illinois nuke

Today’s NRC Event Reports include the incident yesterday morning at the Byron Unit 2 reactor in Illinois. There are three significant updates.   First, the reactor is still operating on power supplied by the unit’s emergency diesel generators. So, at … Continue reading

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Illinois nuke shuts down after loss of power incident

 The Chicago Tribune reported this afternoon: U.S. power company Exelon’s 1,136-megawatt Unit 2 at the Byron nuclear power plant in Illinois shut Monday morning, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said. Exelon declared an unusual event due … Continue reading

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Pipes at damaged Fukushima reactor freeze, leak‏

The Japan Times reported today: Two more water leaks were found at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant Monday in addition to 14 found Sunday that prompted Tokyo Electric Power Co. to halt the cooling of reactor 4’s spent-fuel pool … Continue reading

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Japan down to three operating reactors, may be nuke-free by April

Bloomberg News reported today: Japan will lose its last nuclear- generated power in April at the current rate of shutting down reactors for safety checks, cheering opponents of the industry after the Fukushima disaster while adding to concern about potential … Continue reading

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Entergy, control room operator cited for safety violation at Michigan nuke

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued Confirmatory Orders yesterday to Entergy Nuclear Operations and a licensed control room operator over an incident that occurred in 2010 at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan. The NRC press release described the incident: The … Continue reading

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NRC issues instructions to New York nuke to address safety violations

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced measures today that the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in New York must take in order to address problems in the plant’s Radiation Protection Program. The action was taken as a result of violations noted in … Continue reading

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NRC sends inspection team to Kansas nuke following loss of offsite power incident

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced yesterday that it it sending an Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) to the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in Kansas. The AIT will be looking into the causes of a January 13 incident in which … Continue reading

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Tennessee nuclear fuel worker contaminated; Hole in gloves discovered

A worker at a Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., plant in Erwin, Tennessee, was treated yesterday for exposure to hydrogen fluoride. He received the dose because of a pinhole in the box gloves he was using. The onsite treatment facility rinsed … Continue reading

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