Failures

Failures and accidents in the nuclear industry, research, or in the use of radioactive isotopes.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP Earthquake Damage -- July 16, 2007

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday, July 16, 2007 killed 10 people and flattened homes in northwestern Japan. It also started a fire at the seven-reactor, 8,212-megawatt Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant that burned a transformer, spilled several hundred barrels containing radioactive waste and vented radioactive waste. The story continues to unfold - here are several articles regarding that nuclear failure.

Nuclear Accidents

A list of nuclear accidents, from wikipedia.org

The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident - A Strategy for Recovery

A Report Commissioned by UNDP and UNICEF with the support of UN-OCHA and WHO - 25 January 2002 This Report contains the findings of a study commissioned by agencies of the United Nations to obtain up-to-date and credible information on the current conditions in which people affected by the Chernobyl accident are living fifteen years after the explosion, and to make recommendations as to how their needs can best be addressed in the light of this information.

Russian nuclear plant accident kills 1, injures 2

Hundreds of pounds of molten metal splashed from a smelter at a Russian nuclear power plant, killing one worker and severely injuring two others, a scientist and the federal nuclear agency said today. The accident did not affect reactors, the agency said.

Nuclear Reactors Found to Be Leaking Radioactive Water

With power cleaner than coal and cheaper than natural gas, the nuclear industry, 20 years past its last meltdown, thinks it is ready for its second act: its first new reactor orders since the 1970's. But there is a catch. The public's acceptance of new reactors depends in part on the performance of the old ones, and lately several of those have been discovered to be leaking radioactive water into the ground.

Modern Erin Brokovich Story -- 11 Families File Suit over Braidwood Nuclear Plant Waste Contamination

Eleven Braidwood families filed a multi-count complaint Tuesday against Exelon Corporation and Commonwealth Edison Corporation related to a series of violations of nuclear waste laws and admitted contaminations of property near the Braidwood nuclear plant in Braidwood, Will County, Illinois.

llinois sues nuclear plant over tainted water

‘Culture of greed and deception’ alleged over radioactive waste leaks

Radioactive water leaks from Japan plant

About 105 gallons of coolant water containing radioactive material leaked from an inactive nuclear power reactor in western Japan, but there was no danger of radiation escaping the plant, its operator said Tuesday.

Radioactive waste leaks into aquifer in France

RADIOACTIVE waste from a storage site in Normandy, France, is leaking into groundwater used by dairy cattle, says a report by a French laboratory, ACRO.

Champagne Threatened By Radioactive Leak

France's world-famous Champagne region may have been exposed to radioactive waste from a nearby nuclear site. . .low-level radioactive waste is leaking into groundwater less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the famous Champagne vineyards.

Michigan Reactor Shut Down Due to Heat

Northeast of Chicago, American Electric Power Co. shut down one of two nuclear reactors in Bridgman, Michigan, yesterday after lake water, used to cool the facility, pushed readings in the containment building to 120 degrees, spokesman William Schalk said.

Swedish nuclear reactors stopped

Four of Sweden's 10 nuclear reactors have been shut down, following an electricity failure. The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate, SKI, has been holding an emergency meeting, following the incidents at the Oskarshamn and Forsmark plants.

Zion nuclear plant reports minor heat problem

The excessive heat may be blamed for damaging a lightning device at the Zion nuclear power plant in the far northern suburb this afternoon, according to Exelon Nuclear, the plant's owner.

Nuclear plant cuts power to cool water

Not that you needed another example of how hot it is, but it's so hot that the area's nuclear power plant had to cut the amount of power it produces.

Exelon reduces power output at Illinois nukes

With a heat wave warming the Mississippi River water used for cooling at the nuclear power plant in Quad Cities, Illinois, Exelon Corp. has cut the power at the plant about 19 percent, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Heatwave shuts down nuclear power plants

The European heatwave has forced nuclear power plants to reduce or halt production. The weather, blamed for deaths and disruption across much of the continent, has caused dramatic rises in the temperature of rivers used to cool the reactors, raising fears of mass deaths for fish and other wildlife.

Nuclear Plant Faced Possible Meltdown

Last week's shutdown of the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden, north of Stockholm, reportedly could have resulted in a meltdown. [The burning question is: Why was this not reported by media for a week?]

Heat Wave Shows Limits of Nuclear Energy

The extreme hot summer in Europe is restricting nuclear energy generation and showing up the limits of nuclear power, leading environmental activists and scientists say.

A nettle-some problem on Potomac

According to reports filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, jellyfish have clogged intake pumps three times this month at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Calvert County, Md.

Official says no threat from water leak at San Onofre reactor

The water containing tritium from nuclear fission was discovered last week in soils under a containment building as the reactor was being dismantled, said Ray Golden. High levels of tritium can cause cancer.

NUCLEAR HEAT

Summer heat waves increase the demand for electricity and reduce the ability of nuclear power plants to meet that need. This issue brief explains how rising summer temperatures challenge nuclear plant output during normal operation and nuclear plant safety under accident conditions.

Radioactive steam leak at Japanese nuclear plant

An increase in the level of tritium was detected during an air sampling outside the plant on Sunday, and the operator later found that steam containing radioactive material was leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, the company said.

Fuel-Moving Crane Breaks in Bulgaria's Nuke

A sixteen-ton crane has broken while transporting waste fuel in Bulgaria's only Nuclear Power Plant in Kozloduy, the plant reported.

Tritium found in water under nuclear power plant - Isotope likely isn't dangerous

Dominion Inc. says it found a small amount of tritium in samples of water taken from under the Kewaunee Power Station, and that the discovery poses no threat to public health.

Radioactive water found beneath San Onofre

One substance tests 16 times higher than the EPA's allowable level. Another federal agency sees no health threat.

Radioactive isotope found near Oyster Creek nuclear power plant

The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant reported Friday it has detected elevated levels of the radioactive isotope Cesium-137 in leaf and soil samples near the plant. NOTE: Cesium-137 and strontium-90 are the most dangerous radioisotopes to the environment in terms of their long-term effects. Their intermediate half-lives of about 30 years suggests that they are not only highly radioactive but that they have a long enough halflife to be around for hundreds of years. Iodine-131 may give a higher initial dose, but its short halflife of 8 days ensures that it will soon be gone. Besides its persistence and high activity, cesium-137 has the further insidious property of being mistaken for potassium by living organisms and taken up as part of the fluid electrolytes. This means that it is passed on up the food chain and reconcentrated from the environment by that process.

Lost fuel rods strengthen nuclear power foes' case

As Southern Co. prepares to build its first new nuclear reactor in 30 years, the utility giant will face a litany of opposition, from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to the Union of Concerned Scientists. In those groups' arsenal comes Southern Nuclear's Aug. 21 admission that it has finished its investigation into the whereabouts of 5.7 feet of deadly, radioactive fuel rod pieces, believed to have been lost sometime in the 1980s at the Edwin Hatch plant near Baxley, Ga. After a grueling investigation, Southern Nuclear concluded that 1.5 feet still remained unaccounted for.

Winning lawsuit against Dept. of Energy by NRDC, Committee to Bridge the Gap & City of Los Angeles re Santa Susana Field Lab Nuclear Accident

"Plaintiffs allege that the DOE's March 2003 decision regarding the remediation of Area IV of Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Simi Valley, California violates the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. 4321, ET SEQ., the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations, and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. 9601, ET SEQ and the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") 16 U.S.C. 1531 ET SEQ

Judge: Bush admin's nuclear cleanup standard puts residents at risk

The Bush administration conducted a flawed study of radioactive contamination at a former nuclear testing site near Los Angeles and adopted a cleanup standard that would expose future residents to elevated risks of cancer, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Newly restarted nuclear reactor shut down after fluid leak

Operators had to shut down the newly-restarted Unit 1 nuclear reactor at TVA's Browns Ferry power plant early this morning after a hydraulic fluid leak caused by a loose fitting.

Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor remains offline

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said yesterday (Tuesday) that the Unit One reactor at Browns Ferry remains offline after an automatic shutdown Saturday.

Two German Nuclear Power Plants Close After Incidents

Two nuclear power plants near Hamburg were shut down Thursday after a fire broke out in one and a short-circuit in a switching unit occurred in another. The public was at no point at risk, stressed the state government.

Pump leaks 'hot' water at Hanford

A clogged pump caused an undetermined amount of highly radioactive waste to spill on the ground Thursday night and Friday morning during a transfer operation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Yankee cooling tower fails

An inside portion of one of 22 cooling towers at Vermont Yankee failed Tuesday, forcing the plant to cut power production by more than 50 percent.

Nuke fuel producer warned of problems - Recently released performance review out before Erwin spill

Federal regulators had warned an East Tennessee nuclear fuel producer about safety problems in a fuel facility before a potentially deadly uranium spill occurred there, according to a newly released document. A performance review of Nuclear Fuel Services of Erwin, Tenn., detailed numerous problems in the plant’s operations from January 2005 to February 2006.

Tritium level high in water at S.C. plant

Radioactive material at Catawba nuclear site above EPA safe-drinking standard

Radioactivity still found at Palisades test well

The same amount of a radioactive substance showed up in another ground water test at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant that was found on Monday.

NRC CONDUCTING SPECIAL INSPECTION AT WOLF CREEK NUCLEAR PLANT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special inspection at the Wolf Creek nuclear plant in response to problems discovered in a safety system that provides cooling water for the reactor during an emergency. The plant, located near Burlington, Kan., is operated by the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp. NOTE FROM A4NR: Wolf Creek, like Palo Verde are both under special inspection and are both STARS plants. The STARS consortium are working together on license renewals for their nuke plants and all are in Reg IV. This is disconcerting as Texas where a new nuke is proposed and license renewals have been filed and Diablo Canyon are members of the STARS team as well.

NRC BEGINS SPECIAL INSPECTION OF ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS AT THE POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection at the Point Beach Nuclear Power Station to look into electrical problems at Unit 1 that led the station to declare an Unusual Event.

Nuclear accidents since Chernobyl report

A compilation of nuclear accidents and information regarding hazards, together with a link to accidents reported from 1947 to 1991

LET THE FACTS SPEAK

ACCIDENTS, LEAKS, FAILURES AND OTHER INCIDENTS IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRIAL AND MILITARY

Active fault exists near Monju (Japan)

A 15-kilometer-long active fault zone exists near the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Monju fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, according to an agency report submitted Monday to the government.

Up to 800 people checked after Spain radioactive leak

Up to 800 people are being examined for contamination after a leak of radioactive material at a nuclear plant in northeast Spain last November, the nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

Inside Chernobyl, The Long Shadow of Chernobyl

Twenty years ago this month, life in Pripyat came to a shuddering end. Before dawn on April 26, 1986, less than two miles (less than three kilometers) south of what was then a city of 50,000, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's number four reactor exploded. Thirty people died in the blast and fire or were exposed to lethal radiation. The destroyed hulk burned for ten days, contaminating tens of thousands of square miles in northern Ukraine, southern Belarus, and Russia's Bryansk region. It was the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.

How We Almost Blew Up Ohio

Nuclear regulators blame plant employees for a near miss at Davis-Besse power station. Maybe it's the regulators we should be worried about.

Millstone Unit 2 Suffers Second Scram in Three Days

Class I Emergency Declared - Likelihood of Radioactive Releases to the Environment

Yankee discloses crane mishap

Workers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant are taking additional precautions when working around a 97-ton cask filled with high-level radioactive waste after a crane moving the cask malfunctioned last week.

Radioactive leak at Asco is 750 times more than disclosed

The amount of radiation emitted by the Ascó nuclear power station in Tarragona during a leak in 2007 reached 176 becquerels, 750 times more that the plant's managers initially acknowledged, Spain's nuclear watchdog has disclosed in a new report.

Slovenia shuts down nuclear plant after cooling system leak (loss of coolant)

. . .Jan Beranek, Greenpeace International's nuclear campaigner, said: "Any situation which results in the European Commission alerting all 27 member states about the possible consequences of a nuclear accident cannot readily be dismissed as something not to worry about. "In this case we hope that independent confirmation can be gained to confirm that the situation is under control and there was no offsite contamination. "However, it stands as a testament to the threat that all of Europe's nuclear facilities pose to its population and environment and beyond. Those who are planning to build more nuclear reactors must heed this warning and reject nuclear technology."

River use banned after French uranium leak

Residents in the Vaucluse, a popular southern French tourist destination, were banned yesterday from drinking well-water or swimming or fishing in two rivers after a uranium leak from one of France's nuclear power plants.

NUCLEAR POWER, FRANCE HALTS TRICASTIN POWER STATION

The French nuclear safety agencies have asked the company owned by the Areva Socatri group to temporarily stop operations at the treatment plant for the Tricastin power station is the south of France. On Monday it was discovered that the plants were leaking water which contained Uranium and which was running off into the surrounding rivers.

France: Nuclear Leak Announced

French nuclear safety authorities and the nuclear giant Areva said that a leak had occurred at one of Areva’s nuclear fuel plants, the second leak at an Areva nuclear power plant in two weeks.

ACCIDENTS MAKE NUCLEAR QUESTIONS LOOM LARGE

The recent proliferation of accidents at nuclear power plants in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia and elsewhere in Europe has made calls for greater reliance on nuclear energy questionable, experts say.

FRANCE'S NUCLEAR CONUNDRUM - Atomic World Champ on the Ropes

France is proud of having the world's most developed nuclear energy infrastructure, but a series of incidents at the Tricastin nuclear power plant has shaken its self-confidence. Is public sentiment about nuclear power about to shift? The winegrowers have already made their move. No longer will they label their product Côteaux du Tricastin. Why? Because the name Tricastin is slowly beginning to stand for something far removed from fine wine.