'Nuclear near-miss in Canada' and other stories

Atomic Energy of Canada says no danger during nuclear ‘near-miss’

Ottawa Citizen,

17 May 2013

OTTAWA — There was no danger when a Chalk River nuclear operator mistakenly closed a vital pumping system that cools the immense heat generated within the NRU reactor’s core, Atomic Energy assured federal nuclear safety officials Wednesday.

“We have and we will continue to the operate the NRU reactor safety,” said Randy Lesco, vice-president of operations and chief nuclear officer for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL).

“This event had no safety consequences to workers, the public or the environment. Cooling to the reactor was maintained at all times.”

Yet the Crown corporation said the Feb. 27 event — which the official report characterized as a “near-miss” — needs to be taken very seriously.

“When we have a human performance event that deals with a reactor operation, we need to take this event very seriously and we’ve done so,” said Lesco.

He said that further categorizing the incident as at “Significance Level 1,” the highest order, means AECL is treating it with appropriate importance, so that “we understand the events and take corrective action.”

The six-member Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission called AECL executives before the panel Wednesday to explain how the NRU control room operator mistakenly started to close a series of valves connected to a heavy water pumping system that prevents the small research reactor from dangerously overheating.

Just before noon that day, control room operators began shutting down the reactor for a routine equipment overhaul. An operator known as a rod supervisor was directed to close the valves of a secondary cooling system.

Instead and inexplicably, he pushed several control panel buttons that began closing the valves for the main heavy water pumps.

Within seconds a senior official, who happened to be in the control room with a visiting official from the World Association of Nuclear Operators conducting a peer review, spotted the error and reversed the valves before they could fully close. Almost at the same time, a “low-flow” alarm sounded.

At that moment, the reactor was running at less than 0.2 per cent of full power. David Cox, senior director of NRU operations, told the commission, “there would have been no consequences to the fuel if this event had progressed to full-valve closure for many hours,” assuming no corrective action was taken.

A continuing investigation has ruled out operator fatigue, fitness-for-duty issue or sabotage, he said.

Peter Elder, a senior CNSC with the directorate of nuclear cycle and facilities regulation, defended AECL’s threatening characterization of the incident, despite that nothing actually happened.

“It is unlikely that even if you had full valve closures, that you would have immediate impact on the fuel coolant, (but) that was not apparent until some additional detailed analysis was done,” he told the commission.

“The operator was told to do something on one system and actually did something completely different on another system. That’s a very unusual type of error to see. So whenever you see a very unusual error in a nuclear reactor control room you have to treat this very seriously regardless of ... what the causes would be.

“Nothing actually happened, but there was certainly potential for something more serious to happen and therefore it needs to be thoroughly investigated.”

CNSC President Michael Binder questioned why AECL and CNSC staff did not alert the public to the incident, which the Citizen first reported on May 8.

“Our observation always is you’re way ahead if you’re the one that’s first to report on the event rather than the media,” Binder advised.

NRC: Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant Not Close To A Restart

6News,

17 May 2013

The utility that owns the troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant hopes to have the plant ready to operate again soon, despite word Friday that it has a long way to go before federal regulators allow it to restart.

The plant that sits on the Missouri River north of Omaha has been closed since April 2011. It initially went offline for routine maintenance, but flooding along the river, a fire and a series of safety violations forced it to stay closed.

Last month, Omaha Public Power District officials had said they expected to have the plant ready by late June. But on Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the plant had met only eight of 25 major performance issues studied during the inspections.

It's made neighbors question whether it will really be ready to restart. “What assurance will you give me that they will not fail?"

“We are here, that when we make the call to restart that it will be safe to restart,” said NRC Director of Reactor Projects Mike Hay. “We feel the same way you do on how important that is."

For more than an hour, taxpayers questioned such things as whether the workers were up to par at the plant and if the design is being changed enough to keep a repeat from happening. The agency said many of the inspections couldn't be done because OPPD was still working on a particular problem.

OPPD said it's making progress and it didn't see any surprises in the report. “We knew we had a lot of work to do and we're pleased that a lot of the issues we're waiting to close, they're recommending to close,” said OPPD’s Jeff Hanson. Close means the issue has been completed right in the eyes of the regulators.

The bottom line is when you're talking nuclear power, safety is key. "We're going to have to do increased inspections to ensure Fort Calhoun is operating safely," said the NRC’s Anton Vegel.

Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant Shut Down After Crack Discovered

WITN,

17 May 2013

South Carolina

A nuclear power plant which is 20 miles south of Raleigh has been shut down after a crack and corrosion was found in the reactor vessel.

Duke Energy owns the Shearon Harris plant, which began operations in 1987.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the quarter inch crack was not all the way through the reactor wall and there's no indication any radioactive material escaped.

The NRC says the plant was shut down so crews could repair the crack. It says there is no impact "to the health and safety of employees or the public."

Hanford waste moved across town with parade permit

WITN,

17 May 2013

When organizers put on their annual Cool Desert Nights car show and parade in Richland, they need a permit.

When the Department of Energy and its contractors want to truck radioactive waste short distances, they need the very same permit.

Transportation of various levels, including high level nuclear materials, requires no more that a Special Events Permit issued by the City of Richland.

The hazardous waste shippers are asked a series of questions: Will there be alcohol for sale? Will there be food? Vendors? Will it be merchandise or an inflatable play area?

The agencies and companies use the permits to block intersections or create rolling stops while a truckload of radiation slowly creeps out of Hanford to a nearby contractor who will package it up and send it back.

Sometimes the permits are issued for three-month periods and can be used any time after heavy traffic hours.

In one case, a contractor moved hazardous transuranic waste with a parade type permit because meeting federal transportation packaging standards would be “cost prohibitive for this one time movement of this material."

KING 5 contacted the U.S. Department of Transportation on this practice. They said: "If a road is blocked by persons having the legal authority to do so, and public access to the involved section of road is thereby effectively precluded, the shipment is not in commerce and thus not subject to our Hazardous Materials Regulations."

It's perfectly legal. DOE officials say the shipments are just as safe under the city permit as they are under the federal rules.

Spokesman Geoffrey Tyree points out: "There hasn't been an accident involving the shipment of waste to and from the treatment facility located next to the Hanford Site by the Department of Energy's contractors since the treatment facility opened.'

Handlers did, however, recently discover one shipment violated radioactive safety standards, leading to a temporary suspension of the shipments.