Category Archives: South Texas Project

Event Report: Operator error reported during restart at South Texas Project

Late Thursday night, operators at the South Texas Project were in the process of restarting the Unit 2 reactor. Procedure required closing the reactor’s main steam isolation valves. Rather than closing each valve individually, as is mandated in the plant’s … Continue reading

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What does it take to shut down a nuke? Apparently more than an identied fire safety problem

An item in Friday’s NRC Event Reports said that a review of station batteries at the South Texas Project revealed that the control ciruit for the Turbine Generator Emergency Lube Oil pump is unfused. The safety implications, according to the … Continue reading

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NRC blocks expansion of Texas nuke over ownership issue

The Dallas Morning News reported last Thursday: Plans to build two new reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear facility outside Bay City hit a road block Tuesday. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that a partnership between NRG and … Continue reading

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Useful fact buried in puff piece about nuclear snow

 Mark Johnson, chief meteorologist for Cleveland’s News Channel 5, posted this today:  “… have you ever heard of nuclear power plant snow? Well it happened recently in western Pennsylvania. The Doppler radar from the nearby National Weather Service Office in … Continue reading

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(Not-quite-final) Victory in Maryland nuke expansion

At first blush, it looks as if the opponents of the expansion of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland have won. Foes of a third reactor for the Maryland facility had raised the issue of foreign ownership in … Continue reading

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South Texas nuke is at flood risk, according to NRC report‏

The San Antonio Express-News reported yesterday: The South Texas Project, which provides about a third of San Antonio’s electric power, is on a list of nuclear plants with a high risk of flooding-related failures. A leaked July 2011 Nuclear Regulatory Commission … Continue reading

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Updates on lot of stuff: Bloomberg News puts lots of pieces together

Great coverage of the nuts and bolts of nuclear power! The Bellingham (WA) Herald carried a report compiled by the Bloomberg News service today: U.S. nuclear-power production fell 2.1 percent to the lowest level in more than 10 months as four reactors shut in … Continue reading

Posted in Comanche Peak, Diablo Canyon, Event Reports, Farley, FitzPatrick, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Plant shutdowns, Reactor problems, Robinson, South Texas Project, St. Lucie, Susquehanna | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Power falling at South Texas reactor

Power output began falling yesterday at the Unit 1 reactor at the South Texas Project (STP.) Yesterday, the NRC Reactor Status Report listed Unit 1 at 75 per cent of rated output. This morning’s report said the reactor was at … Continue reading

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NRG officials say that South Texas nuke, closed for three months with generator problems, should be back online by mid-April

Earlier this week, officials at NRG Energy, owners of the South Texas Project, reported on the status of repairs to its Unit 2 reactor. According to Reuters: The 1,280-megawatt Unit 2 at the South Texas Project nuclear station in Texas … Continue reading

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As new parts arrive, South Texas nuke operators still have no idea when reactor will run again

The South Texas Project’s Unit 2 has been down since late November of Last year. Reuters carried an article yesterday on the troubled reactor: Workers at the South Texas Project nuclear station in Texas are installing about three dozen stator coils … Continue reading

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