TMI Update: Jan 14, 2024

From GlobalPost:

To get independent answers about the risks faced by people, GlobalPost turned to Arnold Gundersen, a 39-year veteran of the nuclear industry. Now chief engineer at Fairwinds Associates, he has worked as a nuclear plant operator and he served as an expert witness in the investigation into the Three Mile Island accident.

GlobalPost: Officials have said the possibility of a large-scale radiation release is small. Do you agree?

Arnold Gundersen: I think that the probability of a large scale release is about 50-50, and I don’t call that small.

GlobalPost: Why do you think that?

Gundersen: For several reasons. One, you’ve got three reactors involved. Two, you’re already picking up radiation on aircraft carriers a hundred miles away at sea, on helicopters 60 miles to the north, and in town. So clearly, as these plants become more and more difficult to control, it becomes quite likely that a containment now will have a gross failure. And a gross failure will release enormous amounts of radiation quickly.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Japanese officials continue to struggle to contain the damage at a nuclear plant in Fukushima, but it may be much harder to limit the fallout for the future of nuclear energy in the United States.

Images of an explosion Saturday and word of a possible partial meltdown have rippled around the globe and are expected to linger for U.S. nuclear advocates already wrestling with their own economic and political challenges.

"This is obviously a significant setback for the so-called nuclear renaissance; the image of a nuclear plant blowing up on the television screen is a first," said Peter Bradford, a former commissioner for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a frequent industry critic. "Those cannot be good things for an industry that's looking for votes in the Congress and in the state legislatures."

Already, some on Capitol Hill are bringing back memories of the nuclear disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called Saturday for the NRC to impose a moratorium on building new nuclear reactors in seismically active areas until a sweeping new safety review is completed, and he demanded reviews of the Japanese plant's design to determine if there were flaws that could repeat themselves elsewhere.

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The NRC requested an Annual Assessment Meeting with Exelon to review the results of the NRC's assessment of the safety performance of the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station for calendar year 2010. The NRC's assessment is documented in a letter dated March 4. 2011.

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SUMMARY OF FEBRUARY 22, 2011, MEETING WITH EXELON TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED ELIMINATION OF CONTAINMENT ACCIDENT PRESSURE CREDIT FOR PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3

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PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 - REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST RELATED TO LIQUID NITROGEN STORAGE (TAC NOS. ME4131 AND ME4132)

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From the Patriot News:

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh said he experienced “a large dose of deja vu” as he watched news of the nuclear reactor crisis in Japan.

In March 1979, Thornburgh had been in office for only 72 days when a relief valve failed to close on the Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island, producing what Thornburgh called "the chilling prospect of a meltdown at the facility."

The circumstances are different in Japan, said Thornburgh, but the problems are very similar.

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The crippled Fukushima reactor is a grim reminder of the Three Mile Island crisis. It has some common technical and safety aspects, and brings to mind broken promises by the industry to resolve open safety issues. The Japanese crisis certainly demonstrates the propensity for obfuscation by the industry while the public is left sifting through hundreds of media reports.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Japanese government issued an official emergency at one of the country's nuclear plants Friday after a massive earthquake automatically shut down its reactors and caused problems with its cooling system, but said there are currently no reports of radiation leakage.

"There are no reports of leakage from any nuclear power plants at the moment and no signs of any leakage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday. As a result of the state of emergency, the government will set up a special emergency task force to deal with the situation.

 As a precaution, the government ordered nearly 2,000 people living within three kilometers, or nearly two miles, of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to evacuate Friday night.

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With an increasing number of US utilities opting to increase the generating capacities of their existing nuclear power plants, the power uprate market is now worth an estimated $25 billion. In order to ensure projects are completed on time and on budget and that all risks are mitigated, the industry needs solutions that will aid this multi-billion dollar market. If profits are going to be maximized on all projects, careful planning is essential and common sense strategies must be put in place.

(PRWEB) March 9, 2011

In May 2009, a survey of reactor licensees indicated that some 36 power uprate applications are likely to be submitted to the NRC over the next five years – it is therefore essential for the industry to discuss potential hurdles and solutions.

Over 9 key utilities in the USA will be meeting at the 2nd Annual Nuclear Power Uprate Conference to discuss the future for power uprates and to meet with key suppliers to network and discuss how the industry can move forward with the 36 planned projects. The 2 day conference (June 16-17, Charlotte, North Carolina) is expected to host 300 key industry decision-makers with attendees from all major stakeholders within the uprate supply chain in attendance.

This expert-led discussion will give the industry all of the tools to understand current regulatory, licensing and technical challenges surrounding power uprates to master project execution.

For more information on the 2nd Annual Nuclear Power Uprate

For more information on this press release, contact:

Dean Murphy
Senior Industry Analyst
Nuclear Energy Insider
+44 (0) 207 375 7204
dmurphy(at)eyeforenergy(dot)com