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kristopher

(29,798 posts)
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 03:11 PM Apr 2013

Thousands of uncertified parts installed in TVA nuclear plants

TVA president on uncertified parts in nuclear plants: ‘This should not have happened’
Friday, April 19th, 2013, by Daniel Potter

The new president of the Tennessee Valley Authority says he’s worried over a failure to properly vet parts used at several of its nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission stepped up oversight of TVA last month over required quality checks.

Every last piece of a nuclear plant has to have proof it’s up to snuff, says TVA president Bill Johnson.
“These can be pretty simple parts like light switches… we’re not talking about big major nuclear parts.”

Johnson says thousands of parts slipped by without certification over the course of several years. Asked if he’s worried how the situation looks, he said “I worry about us ever not getting every regulation right, every standard right, every specification right. These are things we’re supposed to do, this should not have happened, and then you fix it and make sure it never happens again.”...

http://wpln.org/?p=47235



Translation: "Ooops, my bad, no biggy."
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Thousands of uncertified parts installed in TVA nuclear plants (Original Post) kristopher Apr 2013 OP
Daamn.. :( darkangel218 Apr 2013 #1
“… pretty simple parts like light switches… we’re not talking about big major nuclear parts.” OKIsItJustMe Apr 2013 #2
You couldnt be more wrong. darkangel218 Apr 2013 #3
The switches in your home are not certified for a nuclear plant. FBaggins Apr 2013 #6
You just have an insufficiently creative imagination. FBaggins Apr 2013 #4
You know I’m no nuke booster, but I do like to keep things in perspective OKIsItJustMe Apr 2013 #5
That's a bit like taking the word of the fox that the henhouse is locked. kristopher Apr 2013 #7
Mixed metaphors eh? OKIsItJustMe Apr 2013 #9
From the NRC OKIsItJustMe Apr 2013 #11
You have to have standards and they should be met madokie Apr 2013 #8
Yes, of course, standards should be met OKIsItJustMe Apr 2013 #10

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
2. “… pretty simple parts like light switches… we’re not talking about big major nuclear parts.”
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 03:48 PM
Apr 2013

(Let’s not lose sight of that.)

The light switch in the mens room probably doesn’t need the same degree of certification as a switch on the master control panel.

 

darkangel218

(13,985 posts)
3. You couldnt be more wrong.
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 03:56 PM
Apr 2013

Any part of the electrical system could potentially malfunction and create HUGE problems. Especially if it's not certified. I wouldn't want a switch like that in my house, why would you be ok with it in a nuclear plant?

FBaggins

(26,693 posts)
6. The switches in your home are not certified for a nuclear plant.
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 04:05 PM
Apr 2013

We're not talking about switches without a U/L listing. We're talking about parts that weren't certified at the higher standard (which doesn't mean that they don't meet them).

FBaggins

(26,693 posts)
4. You just have an insufficiently creative imagination.
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 03:57 PM
Apr 2013

Arnie will have a "We almost lost Tennesee" theory shortly.

Probably something to do with a key operator being afraid of the dark... so he's forced to hold it when the switch goes bad (which is only a matter of time)... he focuses so much on his discomfort that he fails to pay attention and accidentally kicks out the extension cord for offsite power.

All joking aside. The interviewee seems to have the right perspective. Even if there isn't a direct risk from this error, nuclear plants are supposed to have VERY tight quality control. They now need to evaluate the full process and make certain that more important parts are as they need to be.

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
5. You know I’m no nuke booster, but I do like to keep things in perspective
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 04:05 PM
Apr 2013

If people bought (UL rated) light switches down at the local hardware store, that would be good enough for some applications.

kristopher

(29,798 posts)
7. That's a bit like taking the word of the fox that the henhouse is locked.
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 04:51 PM
Apr 2013

Wouldn't you say?

Meanwhile in India:

India's nuclear watchdog finds faulty valves in Kudankulam plant
Reported by Pallava Bagla, Edited by Ashish Mukherjee | Updated: April 20, 2013 10:27 IST

New Delhi: For the very first time, India's nuclear watchdog, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), has indicated that faulty parts have been found at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The problematic valves are being replaced, said officials.

The Department of Atomic Energy, which reports to the Prime Minister, has been insisting that the nuclear facility in coastal Tamil Nadu is safe and ready to be commissioned in weeks.

Protesters, including local fishermen and villagers who have campaigned long and hard against the nuclear plant, have repeatedly shared their concern that sub-standard equipment has been installed at the facility.

...

AERB told NDTV that the defective valves were part of the special passive cooling system installed in these nuclear reactors to avert a Fukushima-type accident.


http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/india-s-nuclear-watchdog-finds-faulty-valves-in-kudankulam-plant-356391

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
9. Mixed metaphors eh?
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 05:45 PM
Apr 2013

No, I’m not worried about the fox guarding the chickens.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/mar/29/tva-cited-for-not-testing-nuclear-parts/

[font face=Serif]published Friday, March 29th, 2013
[font size=5]TVA cited for not testing nuclear parts[/font]

by Pam Sohn

[font size=3]Federal regulators have cited TVA with three more apparent violations at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant — this time over thousands of parts the utility purchased that are not documented as nuclear-grade quality.



In 1995, the NRC recognized that nuclear operators were having increasing problems finding nuclear-grade parts as the industry's growth lulled in the United States after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. So regulators enacted rules requiring that parts obtained from non-nuclear-certified vendors must receive special and strict industry testing to be performed and documented by the operators.



TVA officials who met Thursday with NRC regulators in Atlanta acknowledged that their engineers didn't notice the new rules and didn't make the change.



Calle told NRC officials that TVA officials have confidence in the parts based on the utility's historical relationships with the commercial vendors and the specifications of their purchase orders. The quality of the parts is not the problem, he said. Rather, the trouble was in TVA's record-keeping for quality control.

…[/font][/font]

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
11. From the NRC
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:01 PM
Apr 2013
http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1308/ML13081A103.pdf
[font face=Serif]March 22, 2013
[font size=5]NRC SCHEDULES MEETING WITH TVA TO DISCUSS USE OF COMMERCIAL PARTS IN ITS OPERATING NUCLEAR PLANTS[/font]

[font size=3]The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a meeting for Thursday, March 28, to discuss the Tennessee Valley Authority’s commercial grade dedication program for its operating units at three nuclear plant sites – Watts Bar and Sequoyah in Tennessee, and Browns Ferry in Alabama.

The NRC requires certain components in a nuclear plant to meet strict nuclear quality assurance standards. Commercial grade dedication is a process that provides reasonable assurance that components purchased from a commercial supplier are equivalent to nuclear grade items. This assurance is achieved through documented inspections, tests or analyses.

The NRC identified some issues with TVA’s commercial grade dedication program during the continuing construction of Watts Bar Unit 2. TVA subsequently began an effort to review that program at Watts Bar Unit 1 and at both Sequoyah and Browns Ferry. Neither TVA nor the NRC has identified any significant issues related to the safe operation of the units.

The March 28 meeting is being held at the request of TVA and is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT in the NRC’s Region II office. That office is located at 245 Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Suite 1200, in Atlanta. The meeting will be open to public observation, and NRC staff will be available to answer questions after the business portion of the meeting.

…[/font][/font]

madokie

(51,076 posts)
8. You have to have standards and they should be met
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 04:57 PM
Apr 2013

Nuclear energy has the potential of great harm, need I say more

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
10. Yes, of course, standards should be met
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 05:46 PM
Apr 2013

At this point, there is no indication that the parts in question are not up-to-snuff.

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