Monthly Archives: March 2014

Event Reports: A reactor shuts itself down in Mississippi, a Fitness for Duty report from Connecticut and another day, another open door

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Robert Singleton

From today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Event Notification Report page: 1. On Sunday, the sole reactor at the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Mississippi shut itself down following a turbine trip. Grand Gulf’s report stressed that all the shutdown systems … Continue reading →

Posted in Event Reports, Fitness for Duty, Grand Gulf, Loss of Containment, Millstone, Monticello, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Reactor problems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Event Report: Enough with the open doors, already!

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Robert Singleton

As you know if you visit this page frequently, the nuclear industry seems to have a problem with keeping containment doors closed. The reason why both doors to a containment area are not supposed to be open simultaneously is to … Continue reading →

Posted in Dresden, Event Reports, Nuclear Regulatory Commission | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Event Reports: New York nuke workers figure out how to get around random Fitness for Duty tests

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Robert Singleton

An interesting item from Monday’s NRC Event Notification Reports page: The FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in New York reported: “A significant Fitness for Duty (FFD) programmatic vulnerability was discovered during an NRC inspection. A potential exists that some members of … Continue reading →

Posted in Event Reports, Fitness for Duty, FitzPatrick, Hatch, Nine Mile Point, Quad Cities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Event Reports: Reactor scrams in Mississippi, Nebraska and Alabama, loss of offsite power in Illinois, loss of containment in North Carolina and loss of emergency sirens in Louisiana

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Robert Singleton

Several items from Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s Event Notification Reports on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website: 1. Early Monday morning, operators at the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Mississippi shut down the facility’s sole reactor due to a steam … Continue reading →

Posted in Browns Ferry, Brunswick, Byron, Event Reports, Fort Calhoun, Grand Gulf, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Reactor problems, Waterford | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Four cylinders of enriched uranium hexafluoride fall almost twenty feet during loading operation at Canadian port

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Robert Singleton

World Nuclear News reported today: Port authorities are investigating how four cylinders containing enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6) were dropped during unloading operations in Halifax at Canada’s Nova Scotia. Shortly before 10.00 pm on 13 March, the Halifax Regional Fire and … Continue reading →

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WIPP update: DOE report into underground fire finds safety flaws at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday morning: Federal investigators have uncovered a series of shortcomings in safety training, emergency response and oversight at the troubled southeastern New Mexico nuclear waste dump where a truck caught fire and 17 workers were recently … Continue reading →

Posted in Department of Energy, Fire, Radiation leak, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Worker exposure | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Event Reports: New York nuke shuts itself down following possible maintenance error

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Robert Singleton

Suppose you’re driving down the freeway and your car suddenly loses power and the airbags deploy. You call a tow truck and have your car towed to a garage. Two hours later, the mechanic tells you that there is nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Event Reports, Nine Mile Point, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Plant shutdowns, Reactor problems | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

WIPP leak update: DOE ups number of contaminated workers to 17

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The Albuquerque Journal reported today: The Department of Energy announced Sunday that 17 workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad have tested positive for radiation contamination, an increase from 13 workers the department previously reported. More details as … Continue reading →

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Small fire breaks out at Japanese nuke

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Robert Singleton

This morning, a number of news outlets in Asia are running an Agence France-Presse story about a fire at a Japanese nuclear power plant. Here’s what the Bangkok Post reported: A minor fire broke out at a nuclear power plant … Continue reading →

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Another WIPP update: Plutonium-contaminated waste from Los Alamos may be stored at West Texas waste dump

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Robert Singleton

Some unfortunate fallout (no pun intended) from the February 14 incident at the Waste Isolation Plant (WIPP): Some plutonium-contaminated waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory that had been scheduled for shipment to WIPP may be bound for West Texas. … Continue reading →

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