Skip to main content

Friday Update

By

From NEI’s Japan micro-site:

TEPCO Improves Core Cooling for Fukushima Daiichi Reactors

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues

• The United Nations has released a report, “United Nations System-wide Study on the Implications of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.” The report was prepared for the U.N. high-level meeting on nuclear safety and security to be held Sept. 22 in New York. Among the report’s findings are that “the design basis accident of the Fukushima Daiichi plant had been too modest” and that accident risks relating to the environment “had been underestimated.”

Plant Status

• Tokyo Electric Power Co. says it has begun to increase the flow rate of cooling water into Fukushima Daiichi reactors 2 and 3 using the core spray method, which the operator says is successfully decreasing the reactor temperatures. Earlier this month, TEPCO began using the core spray system to inject cooling water from above the uranium fuel rods as well as from the sides and bottom using normal cooling water supply systems. As of Friday morning, the bottom of reactor 2 measured 114 degrees Celsius, reactor 3 was 103 degrees C, and reactor 1 was 85 degrees C. TEPCO plans to bring all three reactors below 100 degrees C by January.

New Products

• The Ask an Expert section of NEI’s Safety First website answers a new question about insurance available to nuclear plant workers and contract employees in the event of an accident.

• An updated compilation of frequently asked questions on the Japanese nuclear energy situation is available on NEI’s Safety First website.

Media Highlights

• Bloomberg reports that about 20,000 families will be allowed to make brief visits to their homes within the 12-mile evacuation zone around the Fukushima plant. Visitors will be allowed to use their own cars and will be provided with radiation monitors and protective garments.

• Electric Light & Power says that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will place more critics of nuclear energy on a government advisory panel that is slated to formulate a basic energy policy by next summer.

Upcoming Events

• NEI and industry representatives will meet with NRC staff Sept. 21 to discuss actions related to the NRC’s Japan task force recommendations. The meeting will be webcast.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference will be held Sept. 19-23 in Vienna.

• The United Nations will hold a meeting on nuclear safety and security Sept. 22 in New York, during which lessons learned from the Fukushima accident will be discussed.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday Update

By
From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fluor Invests in NuScale

By
You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...
1 comment
Read more

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

By
Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...
23 comments
Read more