NRC warns of counterfeits

Two nuclear operators in the USA discovered that they had purchased counterfeit parts during 2007, it was revealed by safety regulators. None of the parts had been used in safety-related systems.

World Nuclear News

NRC to give fatigued nuclear workers some relief

Almost 10 years after watchdogs and lawmakers complained about excessive overtime and low staffing levels at the nation's nuclear plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a new set of rules designed to make plants safer by staving off employee fatigue. For some workers who staff the two reactor control rooms at Florida Power & Light Co.'s St. Lucie Nuclear Plant on Hutchinson Island, the standards can't take effect quickly enough. It's not uncommon for licensed reactor operators, who make sure the nuclear reactors are operating correctly 24 hours a day, to work more than 1,000 overtime hours a year, according to operators at the plant. Much of the overtime is forced because staffing of licensed reactor operators has reached "critically low" levels, according to one veteran operator who asked not to be identified because he feared putting his job at risk.

Palm Beach Post

NRC Proposes $130,000 Civil Penalty Against Florida Power & Light For Security Violations At Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $130,000 civil penalty against Florida Power & Light Co., for violations of security requirements at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant, operated by the company on Biscayne Bay near Homestead, about 30 miles southeast of Miami.

NRC officials said the fine was being proposed because a 2006 investigation found that security officers employed by Wackenhut Nuclear Services were willfully inattentive to duty (sleeping) from 2004 through 2006. NRC investigators determined that, on multiple occasions during that time, security officers at Turkey Point were willfully inattentive to duty or served as lookouts so other officers could sleep on duty. Included in these multiple examples is an incident that occurred on April 6, 2006, in which a security officer was observed by an NRC inspector to be sleeping while on duty at a post in a vital area of the reactor.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NRC To Discuss Results of Safety Conscious Work Environment Inspection at Peach Bottom

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with Exelon Generation Co. representatives on Tuesday, April 15, to discuss the results of a “safety conscious work environment” inspection conducted at Peach Bottom. The plant, operated by Exelon, is located in Delta, Pa.

Following the discussion of the NRC inspection findings, Exelon will discuss the status of the “safety conscious work environment” surveys it plans to conduct at its nine other operating reactor sites. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Peach Bottom Inn, 6085 Delta Road, in Delta, Pa. The meeting is open to the public for observation. The public will have the opportunity to communicate with the NRC staff after the business portion of the meeting.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

TMI safety report

The safety of Three Mile Island was the focus of a public meeting in Dauphin County last night. CBS 21's Jaime Meyers was at the meeting and has the details. The meeting focused of the safety of the plant through the year 2007. According to the results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, people living near the plant don't need to be worried about their safety. However, they did admit, it's not perfect. TMI Spokesman Ralph DeSantis: "The NRC found we essentially received the highest color code in all areas that they grade us on."

CBS 21

Panic at TMI

If you can't see it, it isn't there. That was the reassurance bridesmaids and family gave bride-to-be Stephanie (Deardorff) Merrifield as she prepared to marry on March 31, 1979 - three days after the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. On March 28 the plant in Middletown experienced a partial meltdown. A 20-mile radius around the town was put on alert for a possible evacuation. Pregnant women and young children were advised to leave. Gov. Dick Thornburgh canceled appointments that day, without explanation, including one with West Manchester Township resident James Shindler, who later packed up to leave with his wife. Teachers closed classroom windows and pulled down the blinds. They refused to let the students go outside, much less home, for several hours. If you can't see it, it isn't there.

York Daily Record

State takes some nuke duties from NRC

Almost three decades ago, Pennsylvania’s capital region gained international attention as the site of what remains the nation’s worst nuclear incident when a reactor at Three Mile Island near Middletown partially melted down.

Nuclear issues are back on the radar in Harrisburg now that the Commonwealth has taken nuclear regulation into its own hands.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Department of Environmental Protection announced Monday that more than two decades after state legislation directed it, Pennsylvania has become the 35th “agreement state.”

That means the NRC and the state have signed an agreement that Pennsylvania will assume regulatory authority over almost 700 radioactive-material licensees, most of them in medical or industrial uses and including licenses for academic study.

Times Leader