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Lithuania Shuts Down Part Of Its Only Nuclear Reactor
Index:
Lithuania Shuts Down Part Of Its Only Nuclear Reactor
NJ Official:Don't Reopen Nuclear Plant Ahead Of Repairs
Robinson Nuclear Plant Fire Blamed On Flashlight Batteries
TVA to shut down Watts Bar nuclear reactor early for repairs
State concerned about proposed cuts
$100 million nuclear waste capping project to be complete in 2006
Tsunami toll is huge, but not the deadliest event on record
=====================================
Lithuania Shuts Down Part Of Its Only Nuclear Reactor
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP)--Keeping a promise it made to the European
Union, Lithuania Friday began shutting down one of the reactors at
its only nuclear power plant.
Under its entry deal with the E.U., Lithuania had to shut down Unit 1
of the Ignalina nuclear power plant before 2005 and Unit 2 by the end
of 2009.
"We have started stopping the first reactor this afternoon. It should
stop functioning completely before midnight," said Viktoras
Sevaldinas, the plant's director.
The Ignalina plant, located 130 kilometers northeast of the capital,
Vilnius, is the Baltic state's only nuclear plant, and is similar in
type to that at Chernobyl in Ukraine, site of the world's worst
nuclear accident in 1986.
"That disaster cast a shadow over our plant, too. We knew the first
unit would be closed long ago and we prepared for it," he said.
Both reactors at the Ignalina plant had safety upgrades installed
after Lithuania regained its independence from the Soviet Union in
1991. Ignalina's first unit began producing power in 1983, and the
second reactor was completed in 1987.
The overall shutdown process will take years, Sevaldinas added.
"Only after five years we will be able to remove nuclear fuel
containers from the first unit. Later we will start to dismantle the
reactor. The complete process could take as long as 30 years," he
said.
Critics contend that shutting down the plant, which provides some 80%
of Lithuania's electricity, would cause steep price increases.
"Nuclear euthanasia" and "Atomic giant loses half of strength" read
some of the front-page headlines of Lithuanian newspapers on Friday.
But the government said the reactor's second unit would be able to
compensate and keep prices steady.
In September, the E.U. set aside some EUR1 billion to pay for the
closure of the four Soviet-era nuclear reactors in Lithuania and
Slovakia.
-----------------
NJ Official:Don't Reopen Nuclear Plant Ahead Of Repairs
TRENTON, N.J. (AP)--Operators of a troubled nuclear power plant in
Salem County are compromising public safety by putting off repairs to
a damaged pump that sends coolant to the reactor's core, according to
the state's environmental chief.
In a letter to federal nuclear regulators, Environmental Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell said the Hope Creek nuclear power plant should
not be restarted until the equipment is fixed.
Hope Creek has been shut down since a pipe ruptured on Oct. 10,
releasing a small amount of radioactive steam.
Public Service Energy Group of Newark, which operates Hope Creek and
two adjacent reactors at the Salem Nuclear Generating Station on
Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek, plans to replace the bent
pump rod during the plant's next scheduled maintenance shutdown, in
about 18 months.
In his letter Wednesday to the head of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Campbell said he has become "increasingly concerned over
the safety" of Hope Creek, and urged the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to require PSEG to replace the pump shaft right away.
"I am aware the NRC staff does not normally step in to impose
specific restrictions on a licensee ... unless certain regulatory
thresholds are crossed, " Campbell wrote. "However, I urge the
commission to view the larger picture of overall plant safety and
citizen confidence in the safety issues at Artificial Island. A sound
preventive maintenance program has not been part of this facility's
safety culture."
Campbell and the DEP have no regulatory authority over nuclear power
plants.
NRC spokesman Neil A. Sheehan said his agency will issue a report on
the safety of the pump and the steam-pipe break before a public
meeting with the utility scheduled for Jan. 5.
"The threshold for us is safety," Sheehan said. "If there were any
indication that the plant could not operate safely upon its return to
service, we would not rule out any options. But we're not there yet.
We have to have a firm technical basis on which to base our
decision."
A spokesman for PSEG Nuclear, Skip Sindoni, said Thursday that the
company hopes to restart the reactor after next week's public
hearing.
PSEG does not need formal permission from federal regulators to
restart the 18-year-old reactor, but it agreed after the October leak
not to restart it until after meeting with the commission.
"We believe the pump is safe to operate," Sindoni said. "As we
present all the information on how we made our decision, we hope they
become more confident with our decision to operate the pump for
another cycle."
Activists, however, fear the worst if the plant is allowed to remain
in service with compromised equipment.
At issue is a bowed rod in a water circulation pump. When operating
at certain speeds, the rod vibrates, producing a rhythmic clanging
some employees have compared to the sound of a freight train. The
repair could cost more than $7 million, Sindoni said.
An independent consulting firm hired by the utility pinpointed the
problem and said the pump is safe to operate.
Campbell questioned that analysis Thursday. He said an unusually high
number of the pump's seals have worn out, and that coupled with
firsthand accounts of vibrations are "warning signs" that should be
heeded.
"In this case we're not satisfied it would be safe to restart the
reactor without appropriate repairs to the damaged pump," Campbell
said. "We think in this circumstance, and given a history of recent
mishaps at the facility, it's appropriate to err on the side of
caution."
PSEG is in the midst of a merger with Chicago-based energy company
Exelon. Hope Creek's operating license expires in 2026.
---------------
Robinson Nuclear Plant Fire Blamed On Flashlight Batteries
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--An early Monday fire that set off ammunition in
weapons storage locker at Progress Energy Inc.'s (PGN) Robinson
nuclear plant was apparently caused by overheated flashlight
batteries, a spokesman said Thursday.
Flashlights are stored next to guns and bullets in the so-called
"small arms locker" as required. But on Monday, it's likely batteries
in a flashlight somehow became too hot and sparked the fire,
spokesman Mike McCracken said. The event is being reviewed with other
Progress nuclear plants and may be discussed with the nuclear
industry at large, possibly leading to a minor tweak in standard
practices.
"Apparently batteries can heat, get hot," McCracken said. "I've got a
feeling there's probably a lot of batteries being taken out of
flashlights right now."
The event didn't cause any injuries. It occurred in an administration
building on the plant site, but not connected to Robinson's 710-
megawatt reactor itself, and didn't affect operations there.
Progress declared on Monday an "unusual event" with the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, in part because a local fire department
responded, though the fire was extinguished by the time they arrived.
Commercial nuclear power plants employ large, armed security forces.
Securitas AB (SECU-B.SK) provides security at the South Carolina
Robinson facility.
---------------
TVA to shut down Watts Bar nuclear reactor early for repairs
SPRING CITY, Tenn. (AP) - A leak at the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant
is prompting the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut the reactor down
for repairs sooner than planned.
About 2 gallons of radioactive water leaks each day inside one of the
four steam generators at the plant, said TVA spokesman John Moulton.
Regulators said the water is contained within the generator, which is
designed to transfer heat from the nuclear reactor to create steam to
generate electricity.
"TVA is monitoring the leak and any radiation it may cause," said
Mike Marshall, section chief for the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions
projects division. "It is well below the allowable limits."
To plug the leak TVA will stop power generation at the plant in late
winter, rather than in the spring as planned originally, Moulton
said.
Eventually, TVA plans to spend more than $300 million to replace the
steam generators at the Watts Bar plant in fall 2006, Moulton said.
TVA ran into similar problems with the steam generators at one of its
two reactors at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Soddy-Daisy two years
ago.
TVA is not alone. Utilities across the nation are having to replace
these expensive pieces of equipment at pressurized water reactors
like Watts Bar because of leaking tubes affecting power generation.
"There has been degradation of some tubes within the steam generators
because of wear, vibration, cracking and a variety of other reasons,"
said Cheryl Khan, senior materials engineer in NRC's division of
engineering. "There have been good results in plants that have
replaced steam generators."
The new designs have included stronger tube materials and heat
treatment, officials said.
The $7 billion Watts Bar nuclear station is eight years into a
licensed 40-year lifetime. The plant began operation in 1996 after 23
years of interrupted construction.
TVA is the nation's largest public utility serving 8.5 million people
through 158 distributors in Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Kentucky,
Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.
----------------
State concerned about proposed cuts
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The New Mexico Environment Department contends
proposed cuts in tests of radioactive waste being shipped to New
Mexico would violate federal hazardous waste regulations.
The U.S. Department of Energy wants to eliminate some testing of
waste destined for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. DOE
officials believe the tests, required by the state to ensure no
dangerous chemicals get loose at WIPP, aren't needed.
But in a formal response Thursday, the Environment Department
concluded the proposed cuts conflict with federal law governing the
waste disposal.
"Accurate characterization of all wastes that are destined for WIPP
is necessary to ensure that the waste will not adversely impact human
health or the environment," the NMED notice states.
Energy Department officials could not be reached Thursday for
comment.
WIPP's state-issued operating permit requires a gas sample from each
drum to be tested for explosives or other dangerous chemicals.
DOE wants that requirement removed, saying the tests are expensive
and unneeded. More than 40,000 drums have been tested so far at a
cost of $600 per test without a single case of dangerous chemicals
being found, DOE officials have said.
Because the state has regulatory authority over WIPP, eliminating the
tests requires action by the state Environment Department.
State officials for much of the year have been reviewing the DOE's
plan to carry out legislative direction first introduced by Sen. Pete
Domenici, R-N.M., in the fall of 2003. He had included language in
the annual DOE appropriation bill reducing the testing required of
waste sent to WIPP.
-----------------
$100 million nuclear waste capping project to be complete in 2006
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - A six-year, $100 million project to cap
nuclear waste landfills - the largest effort of its kind in Oak Ridge
history - is running ahead of schedule and due for completion by mid-
2006, federal contractors say.
The work is being done on about 130 acres in the Melton Valley, where
waste from Oak Ridge National Laboratory was buried from 1943 to
1986.
Workers are constructing landfill caps with layers of clay, rock and
synthetic materials, covered by grass to prevent erosion. Ventilation
pipes are installed to prevent a buildup of methane or other gases in
the underground waste zones.
The idea is to divert rainwater from the old landfills, stemming a
decades-old problem in which water flushed radioactive contaminants
into nearby creeks and ultimately to the Clinch River and downstream
reservoirs.
Work began in 2000 and was originally scheduled to continue until
2012, but that schedule has been compressed under the U.S. Department
of Energy's accelerated cleanup plan.
DOE officials said they expect the capping project to eliminate at
least 90 percent of the radioactive leakage.
Charlie Johnson, who's managing the Melton Valley project for Bechtel
Jacobs Co., the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental manager in
Oak Ridge, said preliminary sampling results have been encouraging.
He said there was a decline in radioactivity in a nearby stream after
workers completed the caps on Solid Waste Storage Area No. 4.
"We would probably not go on record as saying anything like that
(until more results are available), but we're seeing that things are
going the way we're expecting it," he said. "We're optimistic."
Susan Gawarecki, executive director of the Local Oversight Committee,
which reviews cleanup activities for local governments, said the
project's success won't be known for many years.
"It looks like they've done the analysis well. The main thing is to
isolate (the radioactive materials) for the next 300 years,"
Gawarecki said.
Most of the radioactivity associated with the wastes buried in the
ground should be decayed by then, she said.
Gawarecki said capping the leaking landfills at ORNL was really the
only option, because excavating the vast site and relocating the
buried wastes would be almost impossible to do and prohibitively
expensive.
Even though $100 million is a lot of money, capping was probably one
of the cheaper options, she said.
At one point, the Oak Ridge dump site was designated a regional
depository by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and radioactive
waste was brought there from more than 100 nuclear facilities in the
Eastern United States.
------------------
Tsunami toll is huge, but not the deadliest event on record
UNDATED (AP) - The death toll from the south Asian tsunami disaster
could soon rival that of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
An estimated 140-thousand people died when the United States dropped
that bomb on August sixth, 1945, not including those who later
succumbed to illnesses attributed to radiation.
The toll from last Sunday's disaster is more than 121-thousand dead,
and climbing.
That's almost double the 74-thousand killed in the bombing of
Nagasaki, Japan, three days after Hiroshima.
And the toll well exceeds the more than 58-thousand Americans killed
in the Vietnam war.
But it's far from the deadliest natural disaster on record. Some 24
(m) million people are said to have died in a 1907 famine in China.
More recently, a 1970 cyclone in Bangladesh is believed to have
killed 300-thousand.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614
Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714 Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144
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Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
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