What costs billions of dollars for few, if any, additional benefits, continues to ask for billions more for “iffy” benefits and yet remains self-regulated at the end of 2008? The nuclear industry.

What costs less than a million dollars with multiple benefits to society, will likely work for less, not more, this year and yet remains determined to provide oversight sorely lacking in the nuclear industry? Us.

Dear friends,

Below is a recap of problems at U.S. Reactors in 2008. The list is likely not all inclusive and feel free to fill in gaps. The glaring number of Special Inspections should be justification for a 2.206 Petition requesting why the NRC's regulator inspection teams are missing these problems. In addition, it would be beneficial to determine what the problems undiscovered by the NRC's onsite inspectors cost ratepayers across the nation – just in 2008. If the NRC cannot provide oversight to prevent these problems, then the agency should not be relicensing aging reactors, nor should it be considering approval for new licenses.

These are questions the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility will be asking Congress to investigate this year and we invite other organizations to join us.

The list of problems follows:

In the first month of 2008, operators at the Wolf Creek reactor in Kansas discovered pockets of gas in a pipe that should be filled with water. The pipe is part of the emergency core cooling system which provides water to the reactor during an emergency. The discovery prompted the NRC to begin a Special Inspection at Wolf Creek, but did not preclude the NRC’s approval of a license renewal application in November 2008.

The NRC began a special inspection at the Point Beach Nuclear Power Station in Wisconsin to look into electrical problems at Unit 1 that led the station to declare an Unusual Event.

In the second month of 2008, The NRC staff proposed a $130,000 civil penalty against Florida Power & Light Co., for violations of security requirements at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant, operated by the company on Biscayne Bay near Homestead, about 30 miles southeast of Miami –two years after the security guards were found sleeping.

In the third month of 2008, new equipment failures at Plant Farley - two backup generators failed in March pushed the Southern Company close to another safety downgrade, causing one to ask just how many downgrades it takes to get the NRC to do its job. Also an unusual event was declared when outside electrical power delivered to Byron Unit 2 was interrupted due to a problem with electrical transformers, this a mere five months after the NRC initiated a Special Inspection at Byron for another safety concern, causing us to wonder how many unusual events are allowed during a Special Inspection by the NRC?

In New York, two Indian Point nuclear power plant security guards were suspended for going to work with cocaine in their systems. According to the NRC “The workers’ apparent drug use didn’t compromise safety at the plant 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan.” Earlier in March, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered an independent safety study at the Indian Point power plant. In its annual assessment of the plant, the NRC found that for the third consecutive year there were problems with operating procedures at both its reactors, Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3, and difficulties finding and fixing problems at Indian Point 2. Could this possibly be due to cocaine use by IP employees?

In the fourth month of 2008, a controversial fire protection pilot program intended to remedy 16 years of broken promises over safety at the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant has itself collapsed into indefinite delay. Also, the groups told U.S. Rep. David Price in a separate letter that NRC Chairman Dale Klein repeatedly misled the congressman earlier this month when responding to Price’s concerns about lax fire enforcement by the agency. Congressional frustration with NRC has grown markedly in recent months. Unfazed by public and congressional criticism about fire safety, the NRC renewed the licensed for Shearon Harris in December 2008.

The NRC is conducting a Special Inspection at the Oconee nuclear station in South Carolina to assess the circumstances associated with high vibrations experienced by three Unit 1 reactor coolant pumps on April 12 while shutting down for a refueling outage.

The NRC conducted a special inspection at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama to assess the circumstances surrounding degradation of several valves on the residual heat removal or RHR systems for Unit 3. The RHR system is designed to control the temperature of the reactor coolant system by removing decay heat during shutdowns and refueling operations. In March, TVA found significant degradation of RHR heat exchanger service water flow control valves on Unit 3.

In the fifth month of 2008, Salem Unit 2 in New Jersey automatically shut down last Thursday when a porthole-style window in a steam condenser broke, and water contaminated with both hydrazine and tritium leaked into the storm drainage system. Earlier that month the Hope Creek reactor, also in N.J., was manually shut down after an electrical problem tripped two of the three water pumps that feed the reactor.

In the sixth month of 2008 – Millstone experienced its emergency shutdown in about a month – six months later the NRC initiated a Special Inspection at the nuclear plant. While Investigations of security practices at Cook Nuclear Plant in southwest Michigan have led to the suspensions of six people who work at the facility.

In the seventh month of 2008 The NRC is conducting a Special Inspection at the San Onofre nuclear plant in California. The inspection was initiated in response to problems discovered with several electrical connections affecting plant safety systems. NRC inspectors identified similar problems that had occurred since 2005. These problems with electrical connections had affected the operability of an emergency diesel generator and batteries that are used to supply power during some accident conditions. (see Dec 2008)

In the eighth month of 2008 - Five workers were trapped inside Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Plant in containment area due to operational and equipment problems. They were inspecting the containment area while the plant was in shutdown mode, and were trapped when an emergency hatch malfunctioned. The NRC began a Special Inspection.

An Unusual Event was declared at Prairie Island, Minnesota due to elevated levels of hydrazine, an ammonia-like chemical in the turbine building. Two days later the NRC initiated a Special Inspection.

In the ninth month of 2008 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a Special Inspection at the DC Cook Nuclear Power Station in Michigan to review circumstances around a turbine generator fire and degradation of the fire suppression system. A malfunction in the Unit 1 turbine generator resulted in a fire and caused the operators to manually shut down the reactor.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a Special Inspection at the Monticello Nuclear Power Station also in Michigan to review equipment problems associated with an unplanned reactor shutdown.

A GAO report released in Sept 2008, stated that having TMI’s owner, Exelon, and its security provider, investigate themselves regarding sleeping on the job was a mistake. The NRC's Office of Inspector General found that by asking the companies to handle it themselves, the agency's Region 1 office in King of Prussia violated its own rules.

The NRC dispatched a Special Inspection Team to the Brunswick nuclear power plant, in North Carolina. The team will inspect and assess circumstances associated with an August 19th failed test of one of the plant’s four emergency diesel generators. Specifically, local control of the diesel generator, needed for alternate safe shutdown, was prevented when it was found that there was no electrical power to reset a relay. A Special Inspection team from the NRC failed to find five degraded support columns in the only safety-related cell in Vermont Yankee's cooling towers because inspectors didn't have a clear view of the interior of the cell, according to an NRC spokesman.

In the tenth month of 2008, The NRC initiated a Special Inspection at Unit 1 of the Salem nuclear power plant in N.J. to review the circumstances surrounding an apparent loss of reactor coolant system inventory control at the plant last week.

In the eleventh month of 2008, a fire at Port Gibson’s Grand Gulf nuclear power plant has left the facility operating at 65 percent capacity. While the NRC is “considering” new tests of the corrosion in the radiation barrier before a license renewal is approved, the NRC rejected an appeal concerning metal fatigue in reactor water nozzles at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey. Although Oyster Creek’s license expires in early 2009, the NRC has stated the plant can continue to operate while safety issues are being “resolved”. This is a good statement to keep in mind when utilities that are 5-15 years from license expiration argue they must file now.

Just next door in N.Y, the Indian Point nuclear power plant completed the draining of 500,000 gallons of radioactive water and spent fuel rods. In August 2005, a dangerous dose of strontium-90, a carcinogenic isotope, was detected in storm drains and groundwater around the riverside power plant. The contamination was eventually traced back to a leaking spent fuel pool for reactor Unit 1, which was shut down in the 1970s. NRC officials said they will continue to monitor the groundwater around the plant.

The NRC initiated a Special Inspection to review the circumstances surrounding the identification of air trapped in a safety system at the Beaver Valley Unit 1 nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The second such inspection this year.

In the twelfth month of 2008, the NRC decided they need another year to keep tabs on radioactive water leaks under Indian Point to "appropriately monitor (Indian Point's) efforts to address the groundwater contamination issue." Coupled with chronic problems with an old emergency sirens system, the groundwater problems brought a level of scrutiny beyond the routine oversight of a plant with Indian Point's overall top safety rating.

The NRC initiated a Special Inspection to review the circumstances surrounding the identification of air trapped in a safety system at the Beaver Valley Unit 1 nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pa The NRC initiated a Special Inspection at the Millstone 3 in Connecticut in response to the recent discovery of a volume of gas trapped in piping for a reactor safety system.

A Special Inspection was again initiated at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in December (the first this year was in July 2008) will receive additional oversight from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a result of a "white" inspection finding related to problems with an emergency battery used for supplying power to plant safety systems. NRC inspectors found that the battery used to supply power to plant safety systems under some accident conditions, was inoperable between 2004 and 2008 because of loose electrical connections caused by inadequate maintenance instructions. The problem was discovered on March 25 during testing, prompting the NRC to conduct a special inspection.

In Peace

Rochelle Becker, Executive Director
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility

Rochelle

AN ASSESSMENT OF CALIFORNIA’S NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS: AB 1632 COMMITTEE REPORT http://a4nr.org/library/07.2007-cechearings/10.2008-cec/view

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