Wednesday, January 16, 2013
They are dressed in camouflage, fit and well-trained, and they creep quietly toward the perimeter of a nuclear power plant under cover of darkness. Their realistic weapons reflect dully in the moonlight, but these weapons fire blank ammunition and lasers
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Wednesday, January 16
Clay Johnson Chief, Security Performance Evaluation Branch, NRC Their goal? A particular target set within the plant which, if compromised, could impact the safety of the plant and the community that surrounds it. The target set this night? A closely guarded secret known only to the “armed intruders” and the NRC inspection team that includes active duty military members from the U.S. Special Operations Command. The attacks will be repeated over the course of three days and nights so that different attack methods and various targets at each nuclear power plant are tested. In each scenario, the plant’s security personnel work to protect specific areas of the plant according to their facility’s individual security plan. Each plant is …
Monday, December 31, 2012
The NRC’s public comment period on the scope of an environmental impact statement for the waste confidence decision and rule ends Jan. 2.
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Keith McConnell Director, Waste Confidence Directorate The waste confidence decision and rule is related to the safety of spent fuel storage. So far, we have received more than 400 wide-ranging comments and suggestions on issues we should cover in this important document. Several more are anticipated before the deadline. In addition to the hundreds of thoughtful comments on the scope of the environmental impact statement, we received much criticism on the scoping process itself, in particular with regard to the length of the scoping period, the January 2 deadline, how the notice was phrased, and whether the NRC was in compliance with its regulations. These concerns have been reviewed and considered by the NRC staff and the Commission. NRC …
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Pilgrim power station must complete the off-site exercises by March.
Pilgrim Nuclear power plant an exemption regarding the requirement to perform a graded full-scale emergency exercise by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Entergy requested a waiver from the requirement on the off-site portion of the exercise, which must be performed every two years, due to the impacts of Hurricane Sandy, according to the NRC. The exemption requires that the off-site portion of the exercise for the Pilgrim plant be completed by the end of March 2013. FEMA evaluates and grades the off-site portion. The on-site portion of the exercise, which is evaluated by the NRC, has already been conducted. It took place on Nov. 7. The NRC's review did not identify any issues with respect to that portion of the exercise.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Entergy employees have addressed issues stemming from a May 2011 reactor shutdown blamed on control room operators, and has ended increased oversight of the plant.
The Nuclear Regulator Commission says Entergy employees have addressed issues stemming from a May 2011 reactor shutdown blamed on control room operators, and has ended increased oversight of the plant. "Our inspectors found that the company has satisfactorily addressed the relevant issues," NRC Public Affairs officer Neil Sheehan said in a statement emailed Friday. "As a result, the 'White' finding will be closed out. That means the plant will no longer be in the Regulatory Response Column of our Action Matrix (which dictates our level of oversight) but will transition back to the Licensee, or normal, Response Column: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/actionmatrix_summary.html." Sheehan did say that NRC inspectors made observations …
41.940008
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Entergy Nuclear Generation Company
600 Rocky Hill Rd, Plymouth, MA
/articles/nrc-withdraws-additional-oversight-from-pilgrim
201179
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is implementing a National Academy of Sciences committee’s recommendations to perform a pilot study of cancer risk in populations around six U.S. nuclear power plant sites and a nuclear fuel facility.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The NRC is asking the Academy to carry out this effort, which will help the agency determine whether to extend the study to the remaining U.S. reactor and certain fuel cycle sites. The pilot effort will examine each of the seven sites with two types of epidemiological studies. The first will examine multiple cancer types in populations living near the facilities; the second will be a case-control study of cancers in children born near the facilities. The six reactor sites are: Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Morris, Ill. Millstone Power Station, Waterford, Conn. Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Forked River, N.J. Haddam Neck (decommissioned), Haddam Neck, Conn. Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant (decommissioned), Charlevoix, Mich. …
Monday, September 17, 2012
Kevin M. Roche, P.E. Operating Reactor Performance Assessment Lead
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Monday, September 17, 2012
The NRC last week issued “mid-cycle assessment letters” to the nation’s nuclear power plants, a semi-annual report card on their performance. It’s very much like the annual assessments we issued and blogged about last March – consider it a mid-term grade, covering the first two quarters of the year, through June 30. Looking at the big picture, 96 of the nation’s 104 reactors were in the two highest performance categories. Here’s how the entire fleet performed: • Sixty-two reactors fully met all safety and security performance objectives and were inspected by NRC using the normal “baseline” inspection program. • Thirty-four reactors were assessed as needing to resolve one or two items of low safety significance. For this performance level, …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
A 2011 finding of "low to moderate safety significance" means continued performance reviews and team inspections at Pilgrim to insure corrective actions are in place.
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station received a passing grade in a recent performance review conducted by the NRC. In a mid-year assessment letter to Pilgrim Site Vice President Robert Smith, the NRC's division of reactor projects director, Darrell Roberts, writes that the "NRC determined the performance at Pilgrim during the most recent quarter was within the Regulatory Response Column of the NRC's Reactor Oversight Process Action Matrix based on one finding originating in the third quarter of 2011 having low to moderate safety significance (White) in the Initiating Events Cornerstone." Pilgrim is under additional oversight from the NRC after a control room operator failed to follow correct procedures during the reactor startup in May 2011. NRC …
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The NRC is watching Hurricane Isaac as it churns through the Gulf of Mexico towards Louisiana.
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Lara Uselding Public Affairs Officer Region IV, NRC As Tropical Storm Isaac develops off the Gulf coast, one only hopes that it will lessen in force and simply bring much needed rains. But the reality is that NRC staff prepares for adverse conditions — to include hurricane force winds in excess of 75 mph — and takes action before the storm even hits the ground. As recently as yesterday, when nuclear power plants were busy taking severe weather precautions, such as tying down loose equipment, removing debris that could become projectiles, and topping off water and fuel tanks, the NRC ramped up staff to assist the resident inspectors at three plants. Currently, Waterford and River Bend in Louisiana, and Grand Gulf in Mississippi have an …
Monday, August 20, 2012
Who decides if the U.S. is going to use nuclear energy to meet this country’s electric needs? It’s a question we get here at the NRC not infrequently
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Monday, August 20, 2012
By Lauren Woodall NRC Attorney Who decides if the U.S. is going to use nuclear energy to meet this country’s electric needs? It’s a question we get here at the NRC not infrequently. The short answer: Congress and the President. Together they make the nation’s laws and policies directing civilian nuclear activity – for both nuclear energy and nuclear materials used in science, academia, and industry. Federal laws, like the Atomic Energy Act, set out our national nuclear policy. For example, in the Atomic Energy Act, Congress provided that the nation will “encourage widespread participation in the development and utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.” Other federal laws, like the Energy Policy Act of 2005, call for the federal …
Thursday, August 9, 2012
The NRC's recent order to stop issuing licenses for nuclear power stations is a "deep breath" as the agency decides how to deal with a court decision that struck down the NRC's "waste confidence rule."
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Thursday, August 9, 2012
By Dave McIntyre, Public Affairs Officer, NRC On Tuesday, the five-member Commission issued an Order directing the staff not to issue licenses for new reactors or to issue renewed licenses for existing reactors for the time being. The Order, understandably, caused a flurry of interest among news media, financial analysts, the nuclear industry and activists, all of whom scrambled to decipher the Order’s ramifications. The potential impact is enormous – the Order affects licensing reviews for as many as 21 new reactors and 12 license renewals for existing reactors. It does not affect licenses already issued or renewed. Let’s be clear: Tuesday’s Order was not a “Full Stop” to NRC’s licensing process. The Commission stated that licensing …
jack ahearn
8:51 am on Saturday, December 29, 2012
Growing up,a common phase to put a nuclear reactor in your town was."Electricity will be so cheap,we won't have to meter it"Plum island are about to lose 4 homes due to yesterday's storm.We all experienced earthquakes this year.We all know about Chernobyl,3 mile island,Fukushima.We don't want to add Plymouth to that list.Now let them store radioactive waste,and when they have filled it to maximum… more ›