by Bob Meyer

Good luck to the new graduates. Nuclear power and the common knowledge, respect and understanding of this science brings our societies and contries closer due to the common requirement of the respect for our science. Here is the story:

Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII) Symposium Also Discussed Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards

Khalifa University’s Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII) hosted a graduation ceremony for its 20 fellows during a two-day symposium on nuclear safety, security and safeguards at Khalifa University’s Abu Dhabi campus. Held on May 19th and 20th, the ceremony marked the largest number of fellows to graduate since the program’s inception. 

The students came from across the GCC, representing the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and underwent over 400 hours of training as part of the course. Twelve specialized nuclear instructors, who ran the program, were also in attendance at the graduation. The instructors came from Khalifa University, Texas A&M, Sandia National Laboratories and the World Institute for Nuclear Security.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is launching a special inspection at Duke Energy’s Harris nuclear power plant to assess the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a quarter-inch flaw on the plant’s reactor vessel head.

The plant is located near New Hill, N.C., about 20 miles southwest of Raleigh. The plant was shut down on May 15 when further analysis of ultrasonic data gathered during an earlier refueling outage revealed an irregularity about one-quarter inch long near a nozzle on the vessel head. The flaw did not penetrate the vessel head wall and there was no evidence of leakage. Duke Energy has begun the repair process.

"There was no immediate threat to the public or plant workers, but because the discovery is on the vessel head and was not seen in the original review, we are sending specialists from our Atlanta office to further evaluate the issue," said Victor McCree, Region II Administrator. "The special inspection team will work to analyze and understand all the details."

Federal regulators have indefinitely delayed a decision on the proposed restart of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in California, raising new questions Monday about whether the twin reactors will produce electricity again.

The seaside plant between San Diego and Los Angeles has been dark since January 2012, after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of unusual damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.

Operator Southern California Edison wants permission to restart the Unit 2 reactor and run it at reduced power in hopes of stopping vibration and friction that was blamed for damaging tubing.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission delayed several earlier target dates for a ruling. Its website on Monday listed no date for a restart decision _ only "to be determined."

Agency spokesman Victor Dricks had no comment.

Last week, the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board sided with environmentalists who have called for lengthy hearings on the restart plan, concluding that firing up the plant would allow Edison "to operate beyond the scope of its existing license."

Edison had no immediate comment.

Last month, SCE's parent, Edison International, raised the possibility of retiring the plant if it can't get one reactor running later this year. The company also disclosed that costs tied to the long-running shutdown had hit $553 million.

Edison is facing a tangle of regulatory obstacles that include a separate state investigation into who should pay for the trouble _ customers or shareholders.

Vienna – The IAEA, supported by the Government of Japan, will designate a new Response and Assistance Network (RANET) Capacity Building Centre in the city of Fukushima next week.

The Centre will be home to several IAEA activities aimed at enhancing emergency preparedness and response capacity, both in Japan and worldwide, in light of the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.

A ceremony to mark the designation of the Centre, which was designated following Practical Arrangements entered by the IAEA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in December 2012, will be held on 27 May, 2013.

The first activity in the Centre, an IAEA RANET workshop, will start the following day, and conclude on 31 May. About 40 experts from 18 countries will participate in the workshop, which will involve a field exercise in Fukushima Prefecture.

Through RANET, the IAEA can mobilise the expert support and equipment to facilitate the provision of international assistance by request under the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency.

The ceremony to mark the designation of the IAEA RANET Capacity Building Centre is open to the media. The ceremony, set to start at 14:00 at Fukushima Jichikaikan, will feature speeches by Ms. Elena Buglova, IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre head; Ambassador Shin Maruo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Fukushima Deputy Governor Masao Uchibori. The ceremony will be followed by an informal press briefing.

by Bob Meyer

The NRC approves the Technical Specification (T.S.) changes that allow the use of spent fuel pool storage cells NETCO-SNAP-IN® rack inserts.

Boraflex degradation Boraflex degradation shall be monitored by in-situ testing in the Peach Bottom Unit 3 spent fuel pool no later than December 31.2013, unless installation of the NETCO-SNAP-IN® rack inserts for Unit 3 have been completed prior to this date.

Installation of NETCO-SNAP-IN® rack inserts will be completed by December 31, 2016

AKME-engineering has taken out a license for the construction of nuclear power plants in terms of the execution of works and rendering of services as the operating organization for the construction of the NPP. The license was issued by the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision.

AKME-engineering was established in 2009. Company’s mission is to implement the SVBR-100 project including design, construction and commercial execution of nuclear power plants with 100 MW fast reactors with lead-bismuth coolant (SVBR-100) Generation IV reactor.

By 2013 AKME-engineering has been given the status of the operating organization. The Company has held a public hearings on the allocation of the pilot SVBR-100 power reactor in Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region, Russia), has certified the quality management system, has received a positive sanitary-epidemiological decision of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia and the SRO certificate in terms of admission to the certain types of works that impact the safety of the construction of the pilot unit. The company has also been licensed to carry out works related to the use of information constituting a state secret.

McClatchy

STOCKHOLM — Environmental pressure group Greenpeace on Tuesday said it flew a paraglider over a nuclear reactor building in south-western Sweden and dropped...

Wicked Local

PLYMOUTH — Maybe it’s a matter of perspective. For Plymouth residents, the nuclear plant in their backyard is nothing new. But cross the Canal and the attitude changes.

Sunday’s “Rally at the Reactor” took place in Plymouth but was a production of the...

On January 9, 2013, at 0400 Central Standard Time, an Auxiliary Unit Operator (AUO) performing rounds near the 3D Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG) discovered metal residue around the blower shaft. Inspection by Maintenance determined the blower bearing had failed. Operations declared the 3D EDG inoperable.

The root causes of this condition are the shielded bearings in the EDG blowers were not adequately assessed on a component level to identify potential failure modes and impacts to EDG operability, and standard vibration data was ineffective in identifying the degradation of the lubrication in the shielded bearings of the BFN, Unit 3, EDG blowers due to the masking effect of generator vibrations.

Immediate corrective actions included the inspection and replacement of all diesel blower bearings that had not been replaced since 2012. The corrective actions to prevent recurrence are to determine appropriate Preventive Maintenance strategies for the population of sealed or shielded bearings associated with EDGs and safety or quality related rotating equipment, and to add an additional vibration monitoring point to the EDG blower fan bearings and relocate two existing monitoring points to the drive end bearing housing.

Root Causes