Afternoon Report

From NEI’s Japan earthquake launch page:

UPDATE AS OF 1:30 P.M., MARCH 25:

Workers have switched from sea water to fresh water to cool reactor 1 and were expected to make the same change for reactors 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by Saturday. Pressure and temperature inside reactor 1 were declining on Friday.

Lighting has been restored in the control rooms of reactors 1 through 4 at the plant, which lost electric power after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum said. With offsite electric service connected to all the units, workers are attempting to connect plant safety equipment. Some pumps and other equipment that were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami must be repaired or replaced.

Water spraying to maintain cooling of used uranium fuel rods in the reactor 3 used fuel storage pool was suspended because of high radiation levels near that building, but spraying into the reactor 1 and 4 storage pools continued.

Reactors 5 and 6 are safely shutdown and are being cooled with pumps using offsite electricity.

Radiation dose rates at the Fukushima Daiichi site boundary continue to range from 1 millirem to 3 millirem per hour.

Comments

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

New Home for Our Blog: Join Us on NEI.org

On February 27, NEI launched the new NEI.org . We overhauled the public site, framing all of our content around the National Nuclear Energy Strategy. So, what's changed? Our top priority was to put you, the user, first. Now you can quickly get the information you need. You'll enjoy visiting the site with its intuitive navigation, social media integration and compelling and shareable visuals. We've added a feature called Nuclear Now, which showcases the latest industry news and resources like fact sheets and reports. It's one of the first sections you'll see on our home page and it can be accessed anywhere throughout the site by clicking on the atom symbol in the top right corner of the page. Most importantly for you, our loyal NEI Nuclear Notes readers, is that we've migrated the blog to the new site. Moving forward, all blog posts will be published in the News section , along with our press releases, Nuclear Energy Overview stories and more. Just l

Hurricane Harvey Couldn't Stop the South Texas Project

The South Texas Project As Hurricane Harvey battered southeast Texas over the past week, the devastation and loss of life in its wake have kept our attention and been a cause of grief. Through the tragedy, many stories of heroics and sacrifice have emerged. Among those who have sacrificed are nearly 250 workers who have been hunkered down at the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear plant in Matagorda County, Texas. STP’s priorities were always the safety of their employees and the communities they serve. We are proud that STP continued to operate at full power throughout the storm. It is a true testament to the reliability and resiliency of not only the operators but of our industry. The world is starting to notice what a feat it is to have maintained operations through the catastrophic event. Forbes’ Rod Adams did an excellent job describing the contribution of these men and women : “STP storm crew members deserve to be proud of the work that they are doing. Their famil

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog