Sep 29, 2024: The case against restarting Three Mile Island’s Unit-1

Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island

Did you catch "The Meltdown: Three Mile Island" on Netflix?
TMI remains a danger and TMIA is working hard to ensure the safety of our communities and the surrounding areas.
Learn more on this site and support our efforts. Join TMIA. To contact the TMIA office, call 717-233-7897.

    

Three Mile Island Sold Private to Equity Group Composed of Sara Lee European Meats, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Sur La Table, and TGI Friday, (June 1, 2022)

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/06/damaged-three-mile-island-reactor-gets-a-new-corporate-parent.html

By admin at Sat, 06/04/2022 - 13:48

NRC Schedules Webinar to Discuss 2021 Safety Performance at Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: I-22-007 May 26, 2022
CONTACT:
Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330
Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331
 
NRC Schedules Webinar to Discuss 2021 Safety Performance at
Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania Nuclear Power Plants
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public webinar on June 8 to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at nuclear power plants in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
 
The performance of 17 nuclear power reactors will be addressed during the virtual session. They are: Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2, in Lusby, Maryland, operated by Constellation Nuclear; Salem 1 and 2 and Hope Creek, in Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey, operated by PSEG; Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 and FitzPatrick, in Scriba, New York, and Ginna, in Ontario Township, New York, operated by Constellation Nuclear; Beaver Valley 1 & 2, in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, operated by Energy Harbor Nuclear; Susquehanna 1 & 2, in Salem Township, Pennsylvania, operated by Talen Energy; Limerick 1 & 2, in Limerick, Pennsylvania, and Peach Bottom 2 & 3, in Delta, Pennsylvania, operated by Constellation Nuclear.
 
The purpose of the webinar is to provide information regarding the plants’ safety performance in 2021 and the NRC’s oversight activities at the facilities. The online meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. Participants will be able to access the meeting after completing this registration form. The Microsoft Teams link will then be sent to them. For those without access to the internet, the teleconference number is 301-576-2978, passcode 332395799 #. Attendees will be able to view slides prepared by NRC staff and ask questions either orally or in writing. The slides will be available in the agency’s online documents system known as  .
 
All of the plants to be discussed operated safely in 2021, with inspection findings and performance indicators for each unit assessed as “green,” or of very low safety significance, at the end of the year. As a result, each of those plants in 2022 will receive the normal level of oversight, which entails thousands of hours of inspection each year.
 
The Reactor Oversight Process uses color-coded inspection findings and indicators to describe plant performance. The colors start at green and increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. Inspection findings or performance indicators with more than very low safety significance trigger increased NRC oversight.
 
Inspections are performed by NRC resident inspectors assigned to each of the plants and specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
 
The annual assessment letters for the plants, as well as the webinar notice, are available on the NRC website. Current plant performance indicators for all of the units are also available on the website and are updated on a quarterly basis.
 
By admin at Mon, 05/30/2022 - 03:14

Op-Ed: "The Dark Side of Nuclear Power, (May, 20, 2022)

The Dark Side of Nuclear Power*

By Eric J. Epstein
 
In a place far way, not long ago, atomic scientists predicted the
dawn of a new day where automobiles would be powered by nuclear fuel
and weather could be controlled by atomic clouds. Their high priest
promoted nuclear energy as "electricity too cheap to meter.”
 
Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, September 16th, 1954, in
a speech by National Association of Science Writer
 
Well, the fairy tale is baaaaack! Actually it never died, and has been replaying itself in your
pocketbook for the last 40 years. Nuclear power never went away, it just devised a snazzier marketing
mantra. A little richer and older, but the industry is still peddling the same snake oil: The healing
power of nuclear generation.
 
The industry argues that the problem of greenhouse gases can be solved by building more
nuclear power plants which they claim” do not emit green house gasses ...at the point of production.
What they don’t tell you is what happens to the nuclear wonder pill before it is magically transformed
into green penicillin.
 
The nuclear-carbon shell game only works if you ignore the environmental cost on the “front
end” and “back end” of nuclear power production. From the moment uranium is mined, milled,
enriched, fabricated and transported it releases large quantities of airborne pollutants.
 
With a nuclear friendly administration in Washington and Harrisburg - but not Wall Street -
fanciful myths about nuclear energy abound and multiply. Consumers, taxpayers and citizens have
been told that nuclear power deserves a second chance because it is now environmentally friendly. Of
course this argument is disingenuous, and ignores the factual reality of nuclear power’s legacy of air
pollution, contamination of water resources and long-lived nuclear waste.
 
The “clean air myth” was demolished on May 13, 1999 when the Nuclear Energy Institute’s
advertising campaign was deemed “misleading” by the National Advertising Division of the Better
Business Bureau. The specific ad in question was displayed in The Atlantic Monthly (December,
1998). The commercial featured a cute owl singing the praises of nuclear power. Hootie then thanked
the NEI for clean air. The Business Bureau stated: “The process currently used to produce at least
some, if not most, of the uranium enriched fuels that are necessary to power nuclear energy plants
emits substantial amounts of environmentally harmful greenhouse gases.” The NEI did not appeal the
decision.
 
When it comes to water consumption, fish kills, thermal inversion and effluent discharges,
nuclear plants are water hogs. Nuclear power plants use millions of gallons daily to cool their
superheated reactor core. There are three nuclear generation stations on the Susquehanna River. Two
plants with three units are located on the Lower Susquehanna, and have the capacity to draw in as
much as half the flow of a River in a day.
 
Production of nuclear fuel creates more terrorist targets, more dependency on Russian fuel,
more toxic waste, but less safety, less security and fewer resources for alternative energy development.
 
Currently there are 80,000 tons high-level radioactive garbage scattered among 72 sites
including five de facto nuclear wastes in Pennsylvania. There are over 8,000 metric tons of high-level
radioactive waste stored on site in cooling pools and temporary casks in Pennsylvania. The waste is
toxic for thousands of years, and has no forwarding address.
 
Nuclear power’s greenhouse gas “cure” claims must be examined by tracing its fuel cycle. It is
clear that the production of nuclear electricity is not “clean”, “green” or “carbon free. ”
 
Nuclear energy is not the answer. We need to focus on internal sources of energy and deploying
renewable energy. We need to view water as a precious resource and limited commodity; not a
nuclear subsidy. The next time someone tells you nuclear power does not harm the environment, tell
them where they can recycle their “junk science”
 
* Eric Epstein was the Chairman of Three Mile Island Alert, Inc., tmia.com, a safe-energy
organization based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and founded in 1977. TMIA monitors Peach
Bottom, Susquehanna, and Three Mile Island nuclear generating stations.
 
By admin at Mon, 05/30/2022 - 00:48

Peach Bottom - AUTOMATIC SCRAM DUE TO ELECTRICAL TRANSIENTS

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center
 
EVENT REPORTS FOR
05/17/2022 - 05/18/2022
 
55899
Power Reactor
Event Number: 55899
Facility: Peach Bottom
Region: 1     State: PA
Unit: [2] [] []
RX Type: [2] GE-4,[3] GE-4
NRC Notified By: Linell, Bill
HQ OPS Officer: Brian P. Smith Notification Date: 05/16/2022
Notification Time: 19:51 [ET]
Event Date: 05/16/2022
Event Time: 15:52 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 05/16/2022 Emergency Class: Non Emergency
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS Actuation - Critical
50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - Valid Specif Sys Actuation Person (Organization):
Lilliendahl, Jon (R1DO)
Power Reactor Unit Info
Unit SCRAM Code RX Crit Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
2 A/R Y 100 Power Operation 0 Hot Standby
Event Text
AUTOMATIC SCRAM DUE TO ELECTRICAL TRANSIENTS
 
The following information was provided by the licensee via fax:
 
"Unit 2 experienced multiple electrical transients resulting in a Group I Primary Containment Isolation Signal (PCIS) isolation and subsequent unit reactor scram. Low reactor water level during the automatic scram caused PCIS Group II and III isolation signals. Following the PCIS Group I isolation, all main steam lines isolated. All control rods inserted and all systems operated as designed."
 
The following additional information was obtained from the licensee via phone in accordance with Headquarters Operations Officers Report Guidance:
 
Peach Bottom Unit 2 automatically scrammed from 100 percent power due to an electrical transient and subsequent PCIS Group I isolation (Main Steam Isolation Valve closure). Unit 2 lost main feedwater due to the PCIS Group I isolation, however, all other systems responded as expected following the scram. High Pressure Coolant Injection is maintaining pressure control while Condensate Pumps are maintaining inventory. The unit is currently stable and in Mode 3. Peach Bottom Unit 3's Adjustable Speed Drives were impacted by the electrical transients and the unit reduced power to 98 percent power.
 
The NRC Resident Inspector was notified.
By admin at Fri, 05/20/2022 - 01:55

Peach Bottom - AUTOMATIC SCRAM DUE TO ELECTRICAL TRANSIENTS

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center
 
EVENT REPORTS FOR
05/17/2022 - 05/18/2022
 
55899
Power Reactor
Event Number: 55899
Facility: Peach Bottom
Region: 1     State: PA
Unit: [2] [] []
RX Type: [2] GE-4,[3] GE-4
NRC Notified By: Linell, Bill
HQ OPS Officer: Brian P. Smith Notification Date: 05/16/2022
Notification Time: 19:51 [ET]
Event Date: 05/16/2022
Event Time: 15:52 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 05/16/2022 Emergency Class: Non Emergency
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS Actuation - Critical
50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - Valid Specif Sys Actuation Person (Organization):
Lilliendahl, Jon (R1DO)
Power Reactor Unit Info
Unit SCRAM Code RX Crit Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
2 A/R Y 100 Power Operation 0 Hot Standby
Event Text
AUTOMATIC SCRAM DUE TO ELECTRICAL TRANSIENTS
 
The following information was provided by the licensee via fax:
 
"Unit 2 experienced multiple electrical transients resulting in a Group I Primary Containment Isolation Signal (PCIS) isolation and subsequent unit reactor scram. Low reactor water level during the automatic scram caused PCIS Group II and III isolation signals. Following the PCIS Group I isolation, all main steam lines isolated. All control rods inserted and all systems operated as designed."
 
The following additional information was obtained from the licensee via phone in accordance with Headquarters Operations Officers Report Guidance:
 
Peach Bottom Unit 2 automatically scrammed from 100 percent power due to an electrical transient and subsequent PCIS Group I isolation (Main Steam Isolation Valve closure). Unit 2 lost main feedwater due to the PCIS Group I isolation, however, all other systems responded as expected following the scram. High Pressure Coolant Injection is maintaining pressure control while Condensate Pumps are maintaining inventory. The unit is currently stable and in Mode 3. Peach Bottom Unit 3's Adjustable Speed Drives were impacted by the electrical transients and the unit reduced power to 98 percent power.
 
The NRC Resident Inspector was notified.
By admin at Fri, 05/20/2022 - 01:55

Summary of Current TMI-2 Legal Issues, (5/6/22)

Summary of legal issues, (3_21_22).docx

FileSummary of legal issues, (3_21_22).docx

By admin at Sun, 05/08/2022 - 12:44

May 10th - Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation

Dear CIS & Decommissioning Working Groups,
05/10/22
9:00AM -
12:00PM ET
By admin at Sun, 05/08/2022 - 12:20

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 - Integrated Inspection Report 05000277/2022001 and 05000278/2022001

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 - Integrated Inspection Report 05000277/2022001 and 05000278/2022001

ADAMS Accession No.  ML22117A036
 
By admin at Fri, 04/29/2022 - 04:30

TMI - I, Issuance of Amendment

Zip of three placed into ADAMS today
 
 
Three Mile Island Unit 1 Issuance of Amendment 304 to Revise License Conditions and the Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications to Align rqts for Permanent Removal of Spent Fuel from Spent Fuel Pool
 
N2
MJK
By admin at Thu, 04/28/2022 - 00:00

PA DEP News Release : Pennsylvania Enters the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

DEP Newsroom
 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
04/22/2022
 
CONTACT:
Neil Shader, DEP
717-787-1323

 
Pennsylvania Enters the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Participating in the multi-state initiative will cut pollution and fight climate change

 
Harrisburg, PA – The Wolf Administration has finalized the regulation to combat climate change and allow Pennsylvania to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), fulfilling a promise made in a 2019 Executive Order to take part in the market-based program.
 
“Today we are already experiencing the effects of climate change and those impacts are only going to get worse. Our children and their children are going to look back at our decisions and by participating in RGGI, we have begun to set Pennsylvania on the path forward to addressing this threat,” said Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Climate change caused by pollution remains the most critical environmental threat confronting us and we are already paying the price.”
 
DEP’s CO2 Budget Trading Program regulation, which will enter Pennsylvania into RGGI, will be published in the April 23, 2022 issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
 
“This regulation has the support of businesses and residents, and will save lives and millions of dollars by cutting air pollution,” said McDonnell. “This is only one step necessary to fight climate change, and while Pennsylvania cannot singlehandedly solve the global climate crisis, the world cannot solve the crisis without Pennsylvania.”
 
Some of the benefits of RGGI for Pennsylvania include:
• Reducing up to 225 million tons of carbon pollution from Pennsylvania power plants by 2030
• Preventing up to 30,000 hospital visits for respiratory illnesses like asthma
• An increase in Pennsylvania’s Gross State Product of nearly $2 billion, and a net increase of 30,000 jobs by 2030
 
Nearly 14,000 people commented on the regulation, including the hundreds that participated in the 10 virtual public hearings DEP held. Throughout the regulatory process, DEP held over 15 public discussions on the regulation with a range of expert advisory committees. The final regulation was supported by both the Citizens Advisory Council and the Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee.
 
“The reaction from Pennsylvanians during the development of this regulation was clear – they want us to take action on climate. Communities and businesses are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, and those impacts will only accelerate between now and 2050. Most Pennsylvanians realize we need to do something about that,” said McDonnell. “Reducing the carbon pollution that drives climate change is critical to preventing some of the worst impacts of climate change.”
 
“RGGI is also important for environmental justice communities,” said McDonnell. “The initiative creates a financial incentive to reduce carbon pollution to which environmental justice communities are often more vulnerable due to social and economic factors. Communities facing environmental justice issues are likely the first communities to feel the effects of climate change through heat waves and flooding, while also likely being communities with the fewest financial resources to adapt.”
 
RGGI is an initiative of 11 New England and Mid-Atlantic states that began in 2009 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector while generating economic growth. Together Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia cap and reduce their power sector carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This is achieved by setting a regional cap or limit on CO2 emissions from electric power plants in the participating states. That cap decreases year over year to reduce overall carbon emissions. Pennsylvania’s participation will increase the size of the program approximately 40 percent.
 
Qualifying power plants must acquire CO2 allowances equal to the amount of CO2 they emit. And while each state has its own allowance budget, the only firm cap is the regional one. Entities in each of the qualifying states can purchase and trade allowances- allowing for the most efficient and cost-effective emissions reductions. Also, since RGGI is a market-based approach, the quarterly auction sets the price for the purchase of allowances to ensure transparency.
 
DEP will now determine the number of allowances for carbon pollution required for each power plant. Power plants must start accounting for their CO2 emissions starting on July 1, 2022. Facilities have until March 1, 2023, to account for 50 percent of their 2022 emissions and until March 1, 2024, to account for 100 percent of their 2022 emissions. Power plants will be required to have 50 percent of their 2022 required allowances by March 1, 2023, and 100 percent of required allowances by March 1, 2024.
 
More information is available at www.dep.pa.gov/rggi
By admin at Mon, 04/25/2022 - 04:11

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