Latest Discovery At Vermont Yankee Becomes Campaign Issue

From Vermont Public Radio:

Yankee was already front and center in this year's gubernatorial contest. As leader of the Senate, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin organized a legislative vote against allowing regulators to extend Yankee's license for another 20 years.

Republican Brian Dubie opposed the Senate vote. He's talked repeatedly about the hundreds of jobs that could be lost if the plant shuts down as scheduled in 2012.

But the latest news that radioactive tritium was found deep underground prompted Dubie to take a harder line. Dubie says the state Health Department and federal regulators need to investigate and assure the public that the plant is safe.

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Entergy, security union reach agreement

From Wicked Local Plymouth:

Security officers at Pilgrim Station Nuclear Power Plant have negotiated a new contract with Entergy Nuclear Operation – just in the nick of time. The collective bargaining agreement between Entergy and the union expired at midnight Friday, Oct. 1, the same day negotiations took a turn for the better and heads began nodding. “The fact is, we reached an agreement that was satisfactory to both parties,” Pilgrim Spokesman David Tarantino said this Friday. “We reached an agreement with local #25, the union for security officers, and they were scheduled to ratify it today. Membership has to accept it as well.” Days prior to reaching an agreement, Jonathan Brain, president of United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA), Local #25, said the negotiations had not been going well. “The company refuses to acknowledge the ongoing problems concerning the officers as they relate to safety, harassment and intimidation of employees in the workplace by their managers, poor morale and the chilled environment created by management’s failure to appropriately address problems with their supervisors, and the quality of life of the workers in general,” Brain wrote in an e-mail to the paper.

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Constellation shelves proposal for Calvert Cliffs reactor

From the Washington Post:

Constellation Energy has shelved its proposal to build a new reactor at its Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, Obama administration officials said Friday, even though the administration had decided to award the project a $7.5 billion loan guarantee. Senior administration officials said Constellation's decision was "a surprise," but a Constellation Energy spokesman Larry McDonnell said that the administration's loan guarantee terms were "unworkable" and that Constellation had told the Energy Department "we can't move forward." The decision by Constellation deals a blow to the idea of a U.S. nuclear renaissance. Constellation and French power company Electricite de France are partners in Unistar, a joint venture that had intended to make the new Calvert Cliffs reactor the first of a fleet of identical units around the country. They filed the loan guarantee application in July 2007.

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Team checking insulation at plant

From Fredericksburg.com:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dispatched a special inspection team to North Anna Power Station.

The agency announced yesterday that inspectors will be looking at a type of insulation used to wrap large pipes that carry coolant water for the plant's two nuclear reactors.

The inspection at the plant, near Mineral on Lake Anna in Louisa County, began Monday and is expected to last about a week.

Meanwhile, both units are shut down. The problem was first discovered in the containment area of Unit 1, which has been shut down since mid-September for refueling. Unit 2 was shut down last Tuesday after the insulation was discovered on pipes in Unit 1.

The NRC is concerned that if any of the wrapped pipes--which join the reactor vessel to the steam generator--burst, chunks of insulation could clog sump pumps that would carry away the spill.

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Small Business Advantage Grant Program; Opportunity

NOTICES Small Business Advantage Grant Program; Opportunity [40 Pa.B. 5643] [Saturday, October 2, 2010]

The Department of Environmental Protection (Department), Office of Energy and Technology Deployment announces an opportunity to apply for the 2010-2011 Small Business Advantage Grant program for pollution prevention and energy efficiency projects. The program provides up to 50% matching grants, to a maximum of $7,500, to enable small businesses in this Commonwealth to adopt or acquire energy efficient or pollution prevention equipment or processes. Well-designed energy efficient or pollution prevention projects can help small businesses cut costs and reduce the risk of potential regulatory problems, while simultaneously protecting the environment. An eligible applicant must be a for-profit small business owner whose business or facility is located within the Commonwealth. All small businesses in this Commonwealth are eligible, including manufacturers, retailers, service providers, mining businesses and agricultural concerns. The project to which the grant will apply must be located within the applicant's facility in this Commonwealth and save the business at least 10% annually in energy or pollution related expenses. For questions or concerns regarding the eligibility of the project, contact Dave Barnes, Office of Energy and Technology Deployment, Small Business Ombudsman's Office at (717) 783-8411 or at epadvantagegrant@state.pa.us before submitting an application the Department will begin accepting applications on October 4, 2010. Applications must be postmarked or hand delivered by 4 p.m. on November 5, 2010. Faxes or other electronic submissions will not be accepted. The application package including guidance, instructions and application forms is available electronically on the Department's web site at http://www.dep.state.pa.us, key word ''Small Business Advantage.'' The application package is also available by contacting the Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Energy and Technology Deployment, 15th Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market Street, P. O. Box 8772, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8772, (717) 783-8411. JOHN HANGER,  Secretary

NRC stalls key repairs for 32 years

From the Toledo Blade:

The NRC has reaffirmed several times since then that sumps at certain plants have been at risk of becoming overwhelmed by paint chips, insulation, and other free-floating debris that would form if an accident occurred. If those sumps fail, there wouldn’t be anything recirculating water to cool the reactors. NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko acknowledged Wednesday the agency “has been grappling with this issue for quite some time now.” That’s an understatement. More than 18 years elapsed before regulators finally showed signs of getting serious about it in September of 1996. Then, they began drawing up plans for what’s known as Generic Safety Issue 191, an industrywide requirement to make the long-overdue sump fixes. Since then, it’s been another 14 years of talking.

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Beaver Valley: Residual Heat Removal System Piping Leak

Event Number: 46304 Facility: BEAVER VALLEY Event Date: 10/02/2010 RESIDUAL HEAT REMOVAL SYSTEM PIPING LEAK "Approximately five hours after Beaver Valley Power Station Unit No. 1 was shutdown at 0011 hours [EDT] to enter a scheduled refueling outage, an approximate 5 drops per minute leak was identified from a drain valve on the Residual Heat Removal (RHR) System inside containment. This leak is downstream of the two series RHR isolation valves on a pipe which connects to both trains of RHR. The actual location of the leak on the valve was not immediately evident. An evaluation was requested. At 1011 hours, the evaluation reported a 270 degree circumferential crack in the socket weld on the RHR side of the valve. Without reasonable assurance of RHR System operability, both trains of RHR were declared inoperable. Both trains of the RHR System are currently in service, along with three steam generators/condenser remaining available for decay heat removal. Actions to address this condition are being pursued. "This is being reported as a condition that at the time of discovery could have prevented the fulfillment of the safety function of systems needed to remove decay heat pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(v)(B) since both trains of RHR were declared inoperable. "Beaver Valley Power Station Unit No. 2 is unaffected by this event and remains at 100 percent power. "The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified." T.S. Action 3.4.7 requires that efforts be immediately initiated to restore RHR as soon as possible.