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ANO Unit 2 Sets Refueling Outage Records
Index:
ANO Unit 2 Sets Refueling Outage Records
EU to take Britain to court over nuclear sub waste
Russia puts off start-up of Iran nuclear plant
Canadian PM to try to sell China nuclear reactors
Experts fear terrorist N-bomb
Siemens to Develop New Cancer Radiation Method
Newsletter-Forecasted $9 Billion Radiation Detection Portal Industry
===================================
ANO Unit 2 Sets Refueling Outage Records
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arkansas
Nuclear One's Unit 2 ended a 20-day refueling outage when it
reconnected to the electrical grid earlier today. The outage, the
unit's 16th for refueling, set plant and world records for shortest
duration and industrial safety. In separate actions, operator Entergy
Nuclear said it will apply this week to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for renewal of the Unit 2 operating license.
This latest Unit 2 refueling outage was the quickest in ANO history
with duration of 20 days and 11 hours. The previous best for shortest
duration was 21 days and 19 hours set by Unit 2 during its previous
refueling in spring 2002. The 20-day outage is also a world record
for nuclear reactors designed by Combustion Engineering. The previous
Combustion Engineering record was also held by ANO's Unit 2.
In addition to replacing about a third of the 177 fuel assemblies in
the reactor's core and performing multiple maintenance activities,
the reactor vessel head was also inspected and found to be in good
shape. All 90 reactor vessel head nozzle penetrations were thoroughly
inspected and found to be leak-free. Inspections of reactor vessel
heads for pressurized water reactors have taken on a new significance
since last year when severe reactor vessel head corrosion was
discovered at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio.
Industrial safety performance was also the best ever for an ANO
refueling outage. With more than 1,500 people working nearly three
weeks in a heavy industrial environment, injuries were limited to
only five first aid cases.
This week Entergy plans to apply with the NRC for renewal of the Unit
2 operating license. If approved, Unit 2 will be authorized to
operate until 2038. The unit's current operating license expires in
2018. The NRC's application review is expected to take about two
years. The review process involves both environmental and technical
considerations. ANO's Unit 1 operating license was renewed in 2001.
Unit 1 is now authorized to operate until 2034.
The nuclear businesses of Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) are
headquartered in Jackson, Miss. Entergy Nuclear is the second largest
and fastest growing operator of nuclear power plants in the nation.
It operates five reactors at four locations in Arkansas, Mississippi
and Louisiana under regulatory jurisdictions and five reactors at
four sites in Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. Entergy Nuclear
also provides management services to the Cooper nuclear station in
Nebraska and is the nation's largest provider of license renewal and
decommissioning services to the nuclear power industry.
---------------------
EU to take Britain to court over nuclear sub waste
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - The European Commission said Thursday
it was taking Britain to court for breaking European Union rules on
disposing radioactive waste from a dockyard that refits and refuels
nuclear submarines.
Under EU law, EU governments must inform the Commission in advance if
it is planning to grant authorization to dispose of radioactive waste
so that it can assess the risks to health in neighboring countries.
Britain failed to give the required six months' notice when
authorizing waste from Devonport dockyards, run by Devonport
Management Limited, owned by KBR, a division of U.S. engineering and
construction firm Halliburton, the Commission said.
"Since the disposal of radioactive waste may affect another member
state from a health point of view, assessment of the radiological
impact of such waste by the Commission remains crucial," it said in a
statement announcing it was taking Britain to the European Court of
Justice.
The EU court can demand changes in government behavior but has no
power to impose penalties the first time it hears a case.
-----------------
Russia puts off start-up of Iran nuclear plant
MOSCOW, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Russia on Monday postponed plans to start
up a nuclear reactor in Iran until 2005 saying the delay was due
technical reasons and nothing to do with U.S. concerns over its
nuclear ties with the Islamic Republic.
A source in the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry told Reuters Moscow's
plans to help Iran build the nuclear plant were still intact despite
U.S. accusations Tehran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons under
the cover of a civilian programme.
"We are putting off the start-up of the first reactor of the Bushehr
plant because much of the technical equipment has not been supplied
in time," the source said.
"But mind you this has nothing to do with politics and other issues
surrounding Iran at this point."
The huge plant near the southern port of Bushehr was initially
supposed to open some time next year.
The announcement was made three days before U.N. nuclear watchdog
chief Mohamed ElBaradei was due to visit Tehran and two weeks before
a deadline expires for Iran to present evidence that its nuclear
programme is entirely peaceful.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Moscow and
Tehran still planned to sign a crucial agreement obliging Iran to
return spent nuclear fuel to Russia. The two sides have been locked
in months of negotiations on the accord.
Moscow has said it is prepared to drop plans to build the reactor if
the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency presents evidence of a
weapons programme.
------------------
Canadian PM to try to sell China nuclear reactors
OTTAWA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien will
try to persuade China to buy more Canadian nuclear reactors when he
visits the country next week, officials said on Monday.
China has already bought two Candu reactors for a total cost of
around C$4 billion ($3 billion) and officials said both had been
completed ahead of schedule.
"Obviously we would like to see more Candus built in China...I'm sure
the prime minister will be pressing China to look at the experience
we've had," one official told a news briefing.
"I'm expecting that the process of continuing dialogue and
cooperation with China will be very much on the table and we'd like
(this) to lead eventually to building more reactors."
China's nuclear generation capacity was 5,400 megawatts at the end of
last year, accounting for less than two percent of the country's
total. That is scheduled to rise to 8,700 megawatts by 2005.
The official said other areas where Canadian exports to China might
increase included grain and transportation equipment.
------------------
Experts fear terrorist N-bomb
International nuclear experts are quietly confronting the most
terrifying scenario of all -- what to do if terrorists manage to
build and detonate a nuclear fission bomb, a diplomat and senior
nuclear scientist said.
The diplomat, who is also close to the International Commission on
Radiological Protection (ICRP), told reporters a team of ICRP experts
from around the world had met this weekend in Stockholm to discuss
emergency responses should this scenario become a reality.
Asked what was the worst-case realistic scenario for an act of
nuclear terror, the diplomat said: "A very badly done, but done
nuclear weapon."
After September 11, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) warned states must tighten up security of radioactive
sources to prevent terrorists getting hold of them to make a "dirty
bomb" -- when a conventional explosive like dynamite is used to
disperse radioactive material.
The IAEA has always said the possibility of terrorists making nuclear
fission devices was very low because of the difficulty of acquiring
bomb-grade uranium or plutonium and the technical sophistication
needed to construct a fission bomb.
"The biggest hurdle in making nuclear weapons is getting weapons-
grade material," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
But the diplomat, who is also a nuclear scientist, suggested that it
was not so hard: "Do you really believe it's difficult?"
As for the technical difficulties, he said: "I know that to do a bad
nuclear weapon, not one that would destroy a whole city but just to
make an explosion, is not so difficult."
Although it would take 25 to 35 kilograms (55 to 80 pounds) of highly
enriched uranium (HEU) to make a conventional nuclear bomb, the
diplomat said in Stockholm that it would be possible to make a less
efficient bomb with "just a few kilos."
"The efficiency of the explosion will be bad (but) you will get a
chain reaction," he said, adding there would probably be no mushroom
cloud, the trademark of a sophisticated fission bomb.
In the simplest terms, the chain reaction in a classic atomic bomb is
triggered when a high explosive like TNT is detonated and compresses
the highly unstable bomb-grade material into such a dense mass that
it sparks a fission explosion.
Without giving details, the diplomat said a crude fission device
could cause significant damage -- in contrast to the kind of dirty
bomb that has been widely discussed in the media, aimed more at
causing panic than physical harm and destruction.
In December 1994, Czech police seized 2.72 kg of HEU from the back
seat of a parked car in Prague, the largest ever seizure of bomb-
grade nuclear material.
Shifting to the topic of dirty bombs, the diplomat said underground
railway systems could be targets. He said highly radioactive caesium-
137 powder, found in many hospitals, would be the likely material of
choice.
"When the train is coming it is like a piston. You just open the
canister and ... after two or three hours you'll have caesium all
over the tube," the diplomat said.
"Nothing will (probably) happen from the health point of view but
people will be so afraid that no one will use it," he said. "I know
the London Underground has a working party looking at this."
Several dirty bomb simulation studies have concluded that an attack
with caesium would result in diluted, low-level exposure.
But in 1987, a single canister of it was found in a Brazil junkyard
and caused a serious radiation contamination disaster. A total of 249
people were exposed, 10 were seriously injured and four died due to
heavy exposure.
There has never been a dirty bomb attack, but the diplomat said he
assumed it was only a matter of time before it happened.
----------------
Siemens to Develop New Cancer Radiation Method
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A high-precision radiation therapy for cancer
that can be used to treat leukemia patients and children will be
developed commercially for the first time and could reach hospitals
in three years, a Siemens executive said Friday.
The technology, for which German industrial conglomerate Siemens
bought the license this week, precisely targets tumors that were
previously too dangerous to treat with radiation, the executive of
the company's medical division said.
"We're talking primarily about chondrosarcomas (tumors of cartilage
cells), brain-stem, eye and pediatric cancers, leukemia," Medical
Executive Vice President Hermann Requardt told Reuters by phone.
He said an extra five to 10 percent of cancers would be treatable
with the new type of radiation.
The technique destroys cancerous cells by shooting so-called "heavy
ions" at them at extremely high speeds. A particle accelerator fires
out charged Carbon-12 nuclei which are guided precisely to their
target by magnetic fields, sparing surrounding tissue and organs.
The technology was developed by German particle physics research
institute GSI in conjunction with partners including the German
Cancer Research Center and Heidelberg University and was tested in
the German city of Darmstadt.
"Since 1997, approximately 200 patients participating in a clinical
study were successfully treated with this method," GSI and Siemens
said in a joint statement. "The results exceeded our expectations,
since we were able to observe a very quick as well as lasting tumor
reaction in these patients," Juergen Debus of Heidelberg University
said in the statement.
COST OF TREATMENT
The cost in treatment alone of heavy-ion radiation has been estimated
as being at least twice that of conventional radiation treatment.
But Requardt said that factoring in potentially shorter treatment
times and higher success rates -- saving on prophylactic care -- the
costs could be roughly comparable.
"There will be a strong desire to go for this very patient-friendly
therapy," he said, adding that it could be carried out on an out-
patient basis.
Siemens still has a few legal and regulatory steps to go through
before it will start building the machines but Requardt said he did
not foresee any difficulties.
"We don't see any major hurdles," he said. "The plans are ready and
after ground-breaking we expect it will take three to four years
before we can start," he said.
He added that the company already had strong interest from investors
and might finance the initiative privately with an initial investment
of up to 100 million euros ($117 million).
Requardt said it would cost around 30 million euros to build each
machine, and that the first commercially working system would
probably be in Germany, which has a mixture of public and private
health care.
The new technology will complement Siemens' existing portfolio of
medical products which includes X-ray, magnetic imaging and
monitoring equipment.
"The technology brings a precision of millimeters into the tumour
treatment and to do that you have to know exactly where the organs
are," he said. ($1-.8522 Euro)
-------------------
Homeland Security Research Corporation --HSRC-- Newsletter Examines a
Forecasted $9 Billion Radiation Detection Portal Industry
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--10/02/2003-- HSRC's Newsletter
Issue No. 6 Covers: Radiation Detection Portals, Fluoroscopic X-Ray
Systems, Nano-Technology in Homeland Security, a Review of Canberra
Inc. and National Laboratories in Homeland Security
Homeland Security Research Corporation (HSRC) announced the
publication of its newsletter: Homeland Security Research (Issue 6).
The new 25-page newsletter -- dedicated to tracking and analyzing
significant trends in homeland security -- covers market, technology,
anti-terror, business and company trends. The lead article reviews
the nuclear/radiological detection portals industry, and includes a
detailed analysis of nuclear/radiological detection portals, their
role in mitigating terrorist threats and the ways the technologies
and markets should evolve to provide a credible defense.
"The economic disruption and human suffering that will follow a
terror attack using a radiological 'dirty bomb' would be enormous,"
said Johnathan Tal, HSRC's president and publisher. "Both industry
and government should and could do much more to reduce our
vulnerability and increase our detection capabilities. We have just
published a pair of comprehensive market and product reports on the
subject of nuclear/radiological detection portals. Our market report
forecasts a 1,300% growth in funding for nuclear/radiological
detection portals over the next 7 years: from about 2,500 portals
today to about 10,000 screening systems by the end of the decade."
Another article in the newsletter examines two new fluoroscopic x-ray
systems -- a new twist on a century-old technology -- that offers a
possible solution to expensive and risky manual searches of
suspicious luggage and parcels.
Nano-technology, a subject that raises the hopes of both security
planners and vendors, is reviewed in detail.
------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sperle@globaldosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
Global Dosimetry Solution Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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