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Sovietologist on Climate Progress' Nuclear Critic Joe Romm

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This is definitely worth reading!
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Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus said…
David,

This has nothing to do with your post, but are you guys aware of the problems with digital I&C that exist at the Finnish new plant site? I really think that digital I&C, software QA and cyber security are going to be the biggest stumbling blocks in new nuclear build. I am actually surprised that this is a problem in Europe, but our regulator is as paranoid about digital I&C, also.

--THERE IS CURRENTLY NO REASON FOR FINNISH REGULATORS TO THINK CONSTRUCTION OF OLKILUOTO-3 will have to be stopped because of delays related to design documentation of automation systems, the head of the Finnish Radiation & Nuclear Safety Authority, Jukka Laaksonen, said in an interview May 7. Laaksonen's comments followed media reports this week of a December 9, 2008 letter from Laaksonen to Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon. The letter expressed concerns about delays with the systems' design documentation and said that if the problem was not resolved, the project might have to be stopped. Laaksonen said in the interview that the authority "still does not understand the design" of the automation systems, but hopes to have thorough documentation from Areva and Siemens by the end of June. Areva's business unit Areva NP and consortium partner Siemens are building the reactor for utility Teollisuuden Voima Oy. Areva spokeswoman Patricia Marie said May 6 that Areva has already responded to Finnish regulators' concerns about the design delays.

http://newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=21621&group=General

UPDATE: Finnish nuclear watchdog warns Areva Olkiluoto site may face shutdown -YLE
6.5.2009 at 13:31(Adds comment from Teollisuuden Voima.)
The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Tuesday quoted a letter from the Finnish Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority (STUK) to Areva as saying that the watchdog might order the Olkiluoto power station building site shut down if the French nuclear group failed to address shortfalls in the facility's automation systems.
YLE further quoted STUK as saying that the design of the automation systems fell short of basic nuclear safety requirements and that the authority therefore did not see any possibility of clearing the systems for installation at the Olkiluoto site.
"Areva NP SAS was to have designed very important systems for safety, but unfortunately, the attitude or lack of professional knowledge of certain individuals who represented the organisation in question at meetings of experts prevent progress in solving the concerns," STUK wrote to Areva, according to the public broadcaster.
The Olkiluoto site has suffered from a string of delays, some to do with safety concerns.
YLE added that there had been no immediate comment from Areva.
A number of Finnish environmental groups said in a joint statement Wednesday that work on the site should be stopped "at once and once and for all"
The Association for Nature Conservation, Friends of the Earth and six other groups added that recurrent reports of quality, control and safety lapses showed that the power station could not be operated safely.
Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), the Finnish utility that ordered the power station, said the site was not under threat of shutdown.
TVO added in a statement that while the planning stage of the station's automation systems had not kept to schedule the company had supplied Areva documents on the systems to STUK for approval.
May 8, 2009 at 10:53 AM
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