TMI Update: Jan 14, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D- Mass.) today released the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the 2010 update to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Waste Confidence Decision to temporarily store nuclear waste at power plants for up to six decades, rejecting the “Commission’s conclusions regarding temporary storage because the Commission did not conduct a sufficient analysis of the environmental risks.”

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 - NRC Triennial Fire Protection Inspection Report 05000277/2012007 and 05000278/2012007

Download: 2012007

Request for Withholding Information From Public Disclosure for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit Nos. 2 and 3 (TAC Nos. ME8535 and ME8536)

Download: ML121290529

June 20, 2012

Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Acceptance of Requested Licensing Action

Download: ML12144A166

From Rep Markey:

Today, Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) released a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) doesn’t require operating nuclear reactors to utilize the most updated method of risk analysis to assess vulnerability to earthquakes, floods or other natural disasters. The GAO report found that while the NRC has, since 1986, repeatedly endorsed and recommended the use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA, which is a more comprehensive risk assessment method that looks at all potential causes of an accident for any particular hazard), it has not required any currently operating reactor to actually use the technique to evaluate vulnerabilities to natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods.

The threat of natural disasters to nuclear reactor safety is not theoretical. Eight nuclear reactors are in the seismically active West Coast, approximately 27 are near the New Madrid seismic zone in the mid-west, and 5 are in earthquake-prone South Carolina. Last summer, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake centered near Mineral, VA caused the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station to shut down after it experienced a greater seismic impact than the reactors were designed to withstand. Last summer’s flooding in Nebraska threatened the Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear power plants, Hurricane Irene caused the shut-down or otherwise impacted the emergency systems of at least nine nuclear reactors in August of 2011, and tornadoes caused the shutdown of several nuclear reactors in 2011.

“This report is yet another indication that while the NRC races ahead to issue or extend licenses for nuclear power plants, it has fallen behind inexcusably in addressing the safety of these very same facilities,” said Rep. Markey, top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “We know what happened at Fukushima could happen here in the U.S., and we should utilize the best and latest information available to assess vulnerabilities so we can ensure the safety of our operating nuclear reactors.”

“There is simply no excuse for the NRC’s failure to require the most up to date methods to assess the threat posed by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, to our nuclear power plants,” said Senator Boxer, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “While the NRC has agreed to study the issue, action is needed now to ensure that standards are in place that best protect the health and safety of the American public.”

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From the New York Times:

What passes for normal at the Fukushima Daiichi plant today would have caused shudders among even the most sanguine of experts before an earthquake and tsunami set off the world’s second most serious nuclear crisis after Chernobyl.

Fourteen months after the accident, a pool brimming with used fuel rods and filled with vast quantities of radioactive cesium still sits on the top floor of a heavily damaged reactor building, covered only with plastic.

The public’s fears about the pool have grown in recent months as some scientists have warned that it has the most potential for setting off a new catastrophe, now that the three nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns are in a more stable state, and as frequent quakes continue to rattle the region.

The worries picked up new traction in recent days after the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, said it had found a slight bulge in one of the walls of the reactor building, stoking fears over the building’s safety.

To try to quell such worries, the government sent the environment and nuclear minister to the plant on Saturday, where he climbed a makeshift staircase in protective garb to look at the structure supporting the pool, which he said appeared sound. The minister, Goshi Hosono, added that although the government accepted Tepco’s assurances that reinforcement work had shored up the building, it had ordered the company to conduct further studies because of the bulge.

Some outside experts have also worked to allay fears, saying that the fuel in the pool is now so old that it cannot generate enough heat to start the kind of accident that would allow radioactive material to escape.

But many Japanese have scoffed at those assurances and point out that even if the building is able to withstand further quakes, which they question, the jury-rigged cooling system for the pool has already malfunctioned several times, including a 24-hour failure in April. Had the failures continued, they would have left the rods at risk of dangerous overheating. Government critics are especially concerned, since Tepco has said the soonest it could begin emptying the pool is late 2013, dashing hopes for earlier action.

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From Portsmouth Patch:

Seven people were injured in a fire on a nuclear submarine at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Wednesday night.

The fire occurred in a forward compartment of the USS Miami SSN 755 that is primarily used for living areas and command and control spaces. The ship's reactor was not operating at the time and was reportedly not affected. Navy officials say it's too soon to tell if the $900 million submarine will be salvageable.

The cause of the fire remains unknown. An investigation into the cause has been launched, but is expected to take a long time to complete. Officials aren't saying if human error has been ruled out or if the focus is on mechanical issues.

The fire was reported at 5:41 p.m. Wednesday, and was extinguished about 10 hours later at 3:48 a.m. on Thursday, according to the shipyard. The nuclear propulsion spaces were physically isolated early in the event from the forward compartment fire and remained safe and stable throughout the event.

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Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 - Request for Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request for Use of Neutron Absorbing Inserts in Spent Fuel Pool Storage Racks (TAC Nos. ME7538 and ME7539)

Download: ML121250569

  Remember when Pennsylvania consumers were promised rate relief and economic prosperity as a result of electric deregulation? On August 4, 2000, Secretary of Revenue Robert A. Judge Sr. predicted future electric bills would be a costs savings’ bonanza.

  "We expect electric competition will help create more than 36,000