NEI Nuclear Notes

Russ Bell The following is a guest post from Russ Bell, senior director of new plant licensing at NEI. There was a positive vibe at this year’s NRC Regulatory Information Conference (RIC), which took place in Rockville, MD, on March 8-10. Held annually, “the RIC” is the largest conference of nuclear energy professionals in the world. RIC sessions cover numerous topics du jour, including justifiable pride by regulators and industry alike in the safety improvements made in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear emergency that occurred at Fukushima-Daiichi; anticipation of second license renewals that will further extend the useful life of our operating fleet of 100 reactors; and excitement about new, advanced design nuclear plants. The future was a recurring theme of the 2016 RIC. While we can’t predict the future, there are a few things we can say for sure: The demand for electricity and the myriad benefits it brings will continue to grow. Demands will increase fo...

Marcus Nichol and David Young The following is a guest post by Marcus Nichol and David Young of NEI. In a recent decision, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission directed the agency staff  initiate a rulemaking to revise e mergency preparedness (EP) regulations and guidance for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) facilities. Small, scalable nuclear energy facilities are anticipated to become an important addition to the nation's electric power grids. However, in order for SMRs to fulfill this promise, it is important that an EP framework for these facilities recognize their advanced design characteristics and safety features. Nuclear power plants must have plans in place to cope with any possible emergency. For the current fleet of large light water reactors (LWRs), these plans include two Emergency Planning Zones (EPZs) around each nuclear power plant facility – one of about 10 miles for actions to protect from a possible radioactive plume (a plume exposure pathway EPZ) and the ot...

Glenn McCullough, Jr. The following is a guest post by Glenn McCullough, Jr. He served as Mayor of Tupelo, Mississippi and was Chairman of TVA from 2001 - 2005. Currently he is Chairman of the board for NuVision Engineering in Pittsburgh. Follow him on Twitter, @GlennMcCJr . On January 10, the Weather Channel broadcast an extraordinarily rare headline: “ Coldest Temperatures of the Century for Some. ” It was referring to the " Polar Vortex ," that swept into states as far south as Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia in the early days of the new year. On the flip side, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pegged 2012 as the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States. That summer, 99 million Americans experienced at least 10 days of temperatures above 100 degrees. Here’s the point: extreme weather happens. Whether it’s a deep cold or a stifling heat, Americans deal with varying temperature changes throughout the year. It wou...

More than a few folks have passed along a news clip to us from The Chattanoogan detailing another " study " by Joseph Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) claiming that they've discovered higher mortality rates in populations living near the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant . We don't believe this study is credible. Mangano and company are making these claims despite the fact that nuclear power plants only account for .1% of the radiation that a typical American is exposed to over the course of a year . Meanwhile, exposures from life saving medical procedures like CT scans and X-Rays account for about 50% . Putting that aside, a number of third party experts and journalists have regularly taken turns debunking Mangano's research. In 2011, Michael Moyer of Scientific American said the following about one Mangano study that claimed Americans were suffering from severe health effects in the wake ...

J. Scott Peterson The following guest post was written by J. Scott Peterson, NEI's senior vice president, communications. NEW YORK CITY—Despite challenging electricity markets and natural gas prices at a 13-year low, industry leaders are confident in the long-term prospects for nuclear energy and its contributions to the electricity mix and U.S. economic growth. On average, America’s 104 commercial reactors are the most efficient power producers on the grid—operating at 86 percent capacity factor. Capacity factor is a measure of efficiency, with a 100-percent rating equaling full power production 24/7, 365 days. Absent reactors in California, Florida and Nebraska that have been closed virtually all year for extended maintenance, the capacity factor at the other 100 reactors was just shy of 90 percent. “We continue to invest in these facilities to preserve their asset value,” NEI President and CEO Marv Fertel told nearly 200 financial analysts and journalists at the Insti...

The American Midwest and Southeast have been struck by tornadoes today . We just received the following statement from the Tennessee Valley Authority concerning the status of several nuclear power plants in their service: TVA has activated its Transmission Emergency Operations Center to assess the damage and manage the response to today’s severe storms. At this time, TVA reports 10 transmission lines are out of service, with the most severe weather reported in North Alabama and Southeast Tennessee. The transmission system is stable and secure. All TVA customer connections are in service with the exception of five connection points for Volunteer Electric in Hamilton and Bradley counties. Initial reports from Athens and Huntsville, Alabama, are that an estimated 44,000 customers are experiencing outages. We are aware of outages in other locations, but we do not have estimated customer numbers yet. All three nuclear sites remain safe following the recent storms. The three units at Bro...

Exelon chief John Rowe isn’t very worried about new regulations on the company’s nuclear energy facilities: "We're not in any panic at all," John Rowe, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. told investors on an earnings call. Well, why not? Rowe said the company's "worst fears" -- changes to the nuclear licensing process; mandates that would increase security personnel; or standards that would lower the amount of time spent nuclear fuel can be stored in cooling pools -- (all potential big ticket items for Exelon) so far haven't surfaced. "We don't at the moment see anything that has a major impact on the economics of these plants," he said. He’s referring to the findings and recommendations of the NRC’s 90-day review report of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. It’s still early in the process of learning all the lessons that the accident will teach, and Rowe doesn’t mention that the September 11, 2001 terrorist...

Terrific article at Bloomberg that takes a first try at crafting a minute by minute account of what happened at Fukushima Daiichi on March 11. Full of interesting details I did not know, including this bit about the number of workers at the plant that day: The Fukushima Dai-Ichi station had 6,415 people on site that day. More than 5,500, like Matsumoto and Imamura, were subcontractors who reported to their clusters of offices in the plant for a head count. It’s a big plant, but that’s a gigantic number. Then, this, following the earthquake: After the head counts, thousands of subcontractors left to check if families were safe… Before the tsunami struck. Almost 1,500 town residents were killed or are listed as missing, out of a national toll exceeding 26,000. After the tsunami. I doubt Tepco knows for sure how many of its contractors were caught by the tsunami and the story doesn’t hazard a guess. Let’s hope all made it away safely. It’s a long, detailed s...

The other day, we listened to the hearings for the NRC commissioners - there are three open slots - but did not follow up with the TVA candidates later that afternoon. Maybe we should have : During the hearing, each of the nominees gave a statement and was questioned by the committee members about their suitability for the role. Each nominee said that they backed TVA's use of nuclear energy. You can read all the quotes - and who said them - at the links but here's a taster: "In the short run, additional generation needs to come almost surely from new nuclear." "I am pro-nuclear and I do think it needs to be part of the solution." To support economic growth, I think we have to have low-cost power, and that additional power may have to be through nuclear." "We've got some old dirty coal plants and, even if we were to miss the call for increased demand, I think nuclear must be part of our solution." And that's a clean swee...

The Tennessee Valley Authority is on the build : Completion of a second reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant — partially built for $1.7 billion, then abandoned in 1988 for lack of need — is under way. TVA also has been studying the possibility of completing two reactors once under construction at its Bellefonte site in northern Alabama. And TVA has applied for a license that would allow two reactors of a new design — called an AP 1000 by Westinghouse — to be built and operated there. The bulk of the piece is a q&a with TVA’s Ashok Bhatnagar. TVA had the coal ash spill in Kingston, Tenn. last year, so they’ve got a reasonably skittish customer base. Thus, we were interested to see how Bhatnagar dealt with the inevitable used fuel questions.  Here’s how: We have a very good method right now for managing wastes. It's very safe, and we've done that for almost 30 to 40 years. We've stored them in our pools, and then we've found a way to store them out...

The Sierra Club, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Tennessee Environmental Council, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and We the People Inc. on Wednesday asked the NRC for permission to intervene against TVA's bid for an operating license at the Rhea County site [a.k.a. the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant]. The groups contend the Unit 2 reactor could harm water resources, including the Tennessee River, and risk public health and safety because of fundamental weaknesses in the reactor's four-decade-old design. This comes from Knoxnews.com . Apparently, a gathering of environmental groups on one issue is a bit unusual: [Sara] Barczak [of the the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy] believes it is "pretty unique for Tennessee" for several environmental groups to come together on an issue like Watts Bar, but is glad for the support. "We are very pleased to get some of our longtime allies to join in the fight." Sometimes we wonder if...

Quite a media coup today for the TVA , with an A1 above the fold story in the Chattanooga Times on the nuclear industry's impact on the local economy: Beyond the temporary plant construction jobs, Tennessee is eager to land new manufacturers to supply the nuclear industry, state Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber said. “One of the goals that the governor has established for the long-term diversification of our economy is to make the energy industry grow roots in our state and really become as important to Tennessee as our automotive industry over the next decade or two,” Mr. Kisber said. Already, Alstom Turbo Machines Group is preparing to invest $280 million to make turbines for nuclear plants in one of the old plants once owned by Combustion Engineering. Westinghouse Electric also is planning to buy and renovate an abandoned plant in the Centre South Riverport and add 50 more employees over the next year to expand its nuclear services business. Als...

Details via the AP . Expect some video later today.

Details from Knox News .

Details from Jacksonville.com .

Before Knoxville News reporter Andrew Eder wrote about the Watts Bar project , he blogged about it.

Details from We Support Lee .

Here's another poll question that was just posted at Knox Views : Do you agree with TVA's decision to increase its nuclear power production? Get over there and vote right now.

From an NEI press release : More than 80 percent of Tennesseans living within 10 miles of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant would accept construction of a new reactor at the plant site or completion of the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor, according to a public opinion survey conducted in July for the Nuclear Energy Institute. The telephone survey of 300 randomly selected adults found that 88 percent of respondents would agree with a decision by the Tennessee Valley Authority to complete the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor on which construction was halted in 1985. Sixty-eight percent “strongly agreed” and 20 percent “somewhat agreed,” while only 11 percent disagreed. Eighty-three percent of plant neighbors said that, if a new power plant were needed to supply electricity, they would accept a decision to add a new reactor “at the site of the nearest nuclear power plant.” Only 14 percent of respondents said construction of a new reactor at the nearest plant site would not be acceptable. The survey was ...

From the AP : The Tennessee Valley Authority's board of directors voted unanimously Wednesday to begin a five-year plan to finish a second nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant on the Tennessee River. The plant, about 50 miles south of Knoxville at Spring City, was the last new nuclear plant to come on line in the United States when it fired up one of its two planned reactors in 1996. The plan to finish it is expected to cost about $2.5 billion, likely funded by the public utility's revenues and adding debt. It was approved after a $20 million internal study on the feasibility of finishing the reactor determined it was already about 60 percent complete. More great news, even better coming on the heels of the Unistar announcement last week. Congrats to everyone at TVA.