Results from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission supplemental team inspection performed at the Ginna nuclear power plant will be presented at a public meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 4. The session is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at Ontario Town Hall, at 1850 Ridge Road in Ontario, N.Y.

Members of the public are invited to observe the meeting and will have an opportunity to ask questions of NRC staff regarding the inspection and related issues prior to adjournment.

Ginna, which is located in Ontario and operated by Constellation Energy, has been under additional NRC oversight since receiving two “white” (low to moderate safety significance) inspection findings and a “white” performance indicator in 2009. The findings and performance indicator involve problems affecting a turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater pump, which is used to help cool down the reactor during a sudden shutdown.

Specifically, one of the inspection findings was identified in the first quarter of 2009 and related to inadequate implementation of a preventive maintenance program for, and subsequent failure of, a speed-control device on the pump. The second finding was identified in the fourth quarter of last year. It pertained to inadequate corrective actions that led to the same speed-control device becoming stuck, or binding, due to corrosion and consequently the failure of the same pump to operate during testing.

"At 1422 CDT, while operating in MODE 1 at approximately 100% rated thermal power (RTP), Wolf Creek Generating Station (WCGS) entered Technical Specification 3.7.5, 'Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) System,' Condition D for three AFW trains inoperable. The AFW pumps are equipped with recirculation lines to prevent pump operation against a closed system. The recirculation line for each pump combines into a common header that flows to the condensate storage tank (CST). The common recirculation line transitions from safety-related to non-safety related at the AFW to CST pipe tunnel. During a review of the system design information, it was identified that a seismic event or tornado could result in damage to this portion of the recirculation line and thereby restrict or block the recirculation flow causing pump damage.

"TS 3.7.5, Required Action D.1, requires the immediate initiation of action to restore one AFW train to OPERABLE status. The Note to Required Action D.1 specifies that LCO 3.0.3 and all other LCO Required Actions requiring MODE changes are suspended until one AFW train is restored to OPERABLE status. The plant remains in MODE 1 at approximately 100% RTP with activities that could lead to the need to maneuver the plant being suspended.

"WCGS personnel are developing an evaluation to support the OPERABILITY of the AFW trains with the reliance on compensatory measures as an interim action until final corrective action to resolve the condition are completed.

A licensed operator was determined to have violated the licensee's Fitness for Duty Policy related to self-reporting a legal action. The employee's access to the Protected Area has been revoked. Contact the Headquarters Operations Officer for additional details.

"On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at about 0945 PDT, Southern California Edison (SCE) determined that a spill of a total of about 110 gallons of sulfuric acid had occurred from two different locations earlier in the same day. All the acid was contained within the chemical berms around the acid transfer pumps in the Unit 3 intake area at the 9 foot level and the 30 foot level caustic berm. No acid was released to the environment.

"At 1050 PDT, SCE initiated notification to the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health (Report # 10-063463), the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA) (Report # 10-4518) and the National Response Center (Report # 949176). Notifications were completed by 1100 PDT.

"SCE is making this notification in accordance with 10CFR50.72(b)(2)(xi). "

starnewsonline.com

Global Nuclear Fuel-America has signed a $12 million multi-year contract to provide fuel and reloading services to Xcel Energy for one of its nuclear plants, the Wilmington-based company said Wednesday.

Excel is planning to overhaul reactor components and systems at its Monticello, Minn., plant. That proposal is pending before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and would boost the Minnesota facility's capacity to about 120 percent of the plant's originally licensed thermal power, GNF said.

The plant, operated by Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota, an Xcel operating company, has one GE-designed reactor that began commercial operation in June 1971 and generates approximately 585 megawatts, or enough electricity for more than 500,000 customers.

As part of the contract, GNF will deliver the enriched fuel to Monticello at the beginning of 2013, before the unit's next fuel reloading. Every two years, Xcel Energy replaces about a third of the fuel in the Monticello reactor.

Global Nuclear Fuel is a GE-led joint venture with Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp.

antiwar.com

Westinghouse Electric Co. said Wednesday that it was awarded a contract to dismantle a nuclear reactor in Spain.

The contract, awarded by the Spanish nuclear waste agency Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, is for work at the Jose Cabrera Nuclear Power Station located 43 miles east of Spain. It is the second commercial reactor to be dismantled in Spain.

The Westinghouse contract covers dismantling and segmentation of the reactor vessel internals of the facility that operated for 38 years. Also included is work such as plant modifications and the loading of waste into canisters.

Work began in June and is expected to last for 31 months.

Source: AP News

News-Herald.com

Perry Nuclear Power Plant falls in the top category for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual safety inspections, but that does not mean the NRC has no gripes.

(Left Picture: Mark Bezilla, vice president of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant speaks at a meeting with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday in Perry Township. Also shown is Kurt Krueger, director of site operations at the plant.    Right Picture: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III Branch Chief Jamnes Cameron speaks Wednesday at a meeting with representatives of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com )

The Free Lance-Star

Seven years into the application process, Dominion power's plan to add a third nuclear reactor at North Anna Power Station is still just that--a plan.

If the company decides to build Unit 3 on the shores of Lake Anna--and it has yet to make that commitment--the earliest it could come online is 2019, the company now says.

While the application process continues to play out, it's difficult for anyone to say with certainty, when--or even if--a Unit 3 will join the two existing reactors at the plant near Mineral in Louisa County.

Since submitting its initial application for an early site permit in September 2003 to lock in a location for 20 years, Dominion has been revising its timeline.

Early company estimates had the unit coming online in...

by Bob Meyer

This is a great lesson learned for operations to identify, document and fix issues. Operators are licensed by the Federal Government to protect the health and safety of the public. Intollerance for equipment issues is a fundamental that needs to drive the station to fix important issues. 

In a letter dated July 23, 2010 to J. R. Morris, Site VP, the NRC stated that a violation of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, Corrective Action, was identified for the licensee’s failure to adequately identify and correct a steam leak on a safety-related portion of the Main Steam system.

If this leak was left uncorrected the steam leak could degrade and exceed the value used in the existing analysis for a Design Basis Steam Generator Tube Rupture and also could affect manual operation of equipment during execution of emergency and abnormal operating procedures. 

This violation had a crosscutting aspect in the corrective action program component of the area of problem identification and resolution because the steam leak was not identified completely, accurately, and in a timely manner.