Reactor Safety

Wake County nuclear plant shut down — WTVD

May 16, 2013

Duke Energy Progress shut down the Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Jordan Lake in southern Wake County Wednesday after an inspection revealed early signs of corrosion and cracking in the reactor vessel – which contains the plant’s nuclear fuel.

‘Flaw’ forces shutdown of Harris nuclear plant — WNCN

May 16, 2013

“It’s premature for the company to assure the public that there was no safety hazard at this point. This is a reactor vessel that has very high pressures pushing outward,” said NC WARN’s Jim Warren. Warren said the plant being shut down could cost Duke Energy $1 million a day. Warren believes Duke Energy will put the bill on its customers.

Crack forces shutdown of nuclear reactor at Shearon Harris — WRAL

May 16, 2013

“To have a crack in a reactor vessel head that went undetected for at least a year, that’s very troubling,” said Jim Warren, executive director of utility watchdog NC WARN, a frequent critic of Duke and Progress.

“It’s the water, stupid!”: Nuclear power won’t work in global warming world – Nuclear Energy Information Service

May 3, 2012

An oft-repeated jibe against renewable energy sources like wind and solar power by (usually) smug nuclear power proponents is, “What are you going to do when the sun don’t shine and the wind don’t blow?”

Clean energy groups call for expanded evacuation zones, improved emergency planning around U.S. nuclear reactors – Nuclear Information and Resource Service and NC WARN

February 15, 2012

Thirty-seven clean energy groups today submitted a formal petition for rulemaking to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking adoption of new regulations to expand emergency evacuation zones and improve emergency response planning around U.S. nuclear reactors.

Fukushima triggers challenges of nuclear licensing by 25 groups

August 11, 2011

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is legally required to slow down reactor licensing and relicensing in order to address major changes urged by the agency’s own experts who have reviewed the Fukushima accident, according to 19 separate legal challenges filed today by a total of 25 public interest groups.
Also see this article about the legal challenges:
Groups step up call for NRC delay after Fukushima – Reuters, August 11, 2011

U.S. regulators opening up on flawed nuclear power plant policing – The Center for Public Integrity

June 23, 2011

These are rocky days at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which finds itself under attack from the outside for decisions ranging from new reactor designs to safety issues that have languished for years, including the agency’s failure to get serious about fire hazards.

Fukushima: It’s much worse than you think – Al Jazeera

June 21, 2011

“Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera.

NRC Cheats the Public on Safety

June 21, 2011

Federal regulators have been working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation’s aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening or ignoring those standards.

Associated Press Exposé
Tritium leaks found at many nuke sites, June 21, 2011
U.S. nuke regulators weaken safety rules, June 20, 2011
Three Minute AP Video Summary, June 20, 2011
Populations around US nuke plants soar, June 27, 2011

Other News Items
U.S. regulators opening up on flawed nuclear power plant policing – Center for Public Integrity, June 21, 2011
NRC waives enforcement of fire rules at nuclear plants – ProPublica, May 11, 2011
A more likely nuclear nightmare –
Center for Public Integrity,
May 10, 2011

U.S. nuke regulators weaken safety rules – The Associated Press

June 20, 2011

Federal regulators have been working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation’s aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards, or simply failing to enforce them, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.

Reactor Safety

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