Virginia nuke plant event update #1

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Situation Update No. 1
On 27.10.2009 at 06:15 GMT+2

One of North Anna Power Station's two nuclear reactors is shut down because of contaminated-water leaks discovered Friday afternoon. Unit 1 was still down yesterday, said Richard Zuercher, spokesman for Dominion power's nuclear operations. "We are making repairs and expect to return to service soon," he said. According to Zuercher and an event report yesterday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there were two issues with Unit 1's cooling system. Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, a pinhole leak was discovered in the reactor purification system. The system recycles some of the water used to cool the reactor core. "Operators isolated the pinhole by redirecting the water into a backup piping system designed for this purpose," Zuercher said. "That was very, very small--almost like a vapor." But then operators discovered a water leak of more than 15 gallons a minute from a heat exchanger on the backup system. They then swapped the water flow back to the line with the pinhole leak and began shutting down Unit 1. The heat exchanger leak exceeded the regulatory limit for radioactive contaminated water, which the NRC deemed--after the fact--to be an unusual event. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management was notified as a result. An unusual event is the lowest of four levels of emergency classification used by the NRC. Approximately 260 gallons collected in a piping system, not on the floor, Zuercher said. "There was no threat to station employees, nor the public," he said. The North Anna plant is on the Louisa County shore of Lake Anna, near Mineral. An unusual event was declared at Dominion's Millstone nuclear plant in Waterford, Conn., in April 2008. In that incident, a coolant leak was discovered at Millstone Unit 2 when it was shut down for scheduled maintenance and refueling. It is a pressurized water reactor like the North Anna units. That leak between the reactor coolant system and a coolant storage tank was captured by the tank, so there was no release of liquid to the environment.
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is it rust that creates these holes in the pipes? or something else?

[EOTE]

1. I'm guessing it's the CHUDs. NT.

[FSogol]

2. Coolant is corrosive, so yes, it causes pipes to wear out faster. n/t

[ReverendDeuce]

4. North Anna Power Station is a pressurized water reactor, thus the coolant is water...

Which, I know, is technically corrosive. I just wanted to make sure the luddies here don't freak out thinking some noxious chemicals are pouring all over the place.

The Three Mile Island accident was a result of coolant loss causing the reactor core to partially melt down, releasing mostly krypton gas and small amounts of iodine. A tragic accident, but the whole idea that the coolant itself is radioactive is silly. But I don't like these PWR designs for reactors... There are safer ways these days. NAPS is a thirty-year old reactor.

FYI: Coolant, even when leaking, is not radioactive... It doesn't come into contact with fissile material:

[The River]

3. My Ex Boss

likes to fish in the waters adjacent to their water outlet pipe
during the winter because the water is "warmer" there
and it attracts fish. He does catch and release only so
at least he doesn't eat them.

[hedgehog]

5. I haven't kept up with the latest data, but back when I was in school

c.1976, engineers were starting to notice something called radiation embrittlement. Steel that was exposed to radiation for long periods changing from a ductile material that could withstand some banging around to a material that would shatter. That's a very rough description; the steel wasn't becoming like glass but more like some forms of cat iron. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that steel exposed to radiation becomes less corrosion resistant.

[ensho]

6. interesting, thanks

nt

[hedgehog]

8. All steel pipes carrying water are subject to corrosion. There are lots

of studies predicting the life of steel pipes based on water temperature, water hardness, water acidity, whether the pipe is buried in sand, in soil, etc. I think the observation of embrittlement is a warning that radiation introduces another variable.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

7. Cool! More Proof Of Nuclear Safety! No Injuries Nor Threat To To The Employees Or Public.

Good reason to continue to have confidence in the safety protocols we have in place for our facilities. Thanks for informing us of this irrelevant event!

[hedgehog]

9. I think nuclear power can be made safe, but I don't think it can be made

safe at an economically feasible price.

[Tikki]

11. It can not be safe...

Even the most conscientious of Administrations will be distracted
and those running nuclear facilities will be like any other
corporation....the bottom line is profit...and they will take the least
expensive route they can get away with...and somewhere down near the bottom of the
list is potential human damage.


The Tikkis "Children of the Radiant Glow"

[bigtree]

10. which is it?

Cool 'proof' of safety protocols or irrelevant? Just the fact that there are such extensive safety protocols for nuclear power is evidence enough for me that it's still a potentially dangerous enterprise - significantly dangerous compared to other forms of power production, despite the protections in place. It doesn't make sense to be so sanguine about the dangers and consequences of nuclear power production if attention to that vigilance is the only thing keeping us safe from a threatening or catastrophic accident.

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. This plant is really old from the early 70s

Its had past problems but generally a good record except for
Maybe 5 or 6 times.

Now, this is not the type of plant you can abandon or upgrade easily
as you could other energy plants. Their cooling ponds have something
not to be desired in the long run because it is also a major source of water
for the area.

The Third reactor which I think is still in debate will still use
the major lake and cooling ponds which will cost countless billions and be passed on to the taxpayers of Virginia.

Follow the money trail on this nuclear energy story.
Reactors and their eco/engineering planning in the 60s and 70s require
billions to get up to snuff to what we know now.


When this 1st reactor was built it was in the middle of nowhere
so long range SMSA planning was very short sighted to only 20 years.
Now its a Suburbia of greater Richmond.