With the unit shut down and reactor coolant system (RCS) at 295 deg. F (146 C) and 350 psia (2,413 kPa), plant operators were preapring to place one train of shutdown cooling into service. When they opened the motor-operated suction valve for the "B" low pressure safety injection pump, indicated pressurizer level decreased from 35% to offscale low, and RCS pressure decreased to 100 psia (689 kPa). Operators closed the pump suction valve to terminate the coolant loss, and tripped the operating reactor coolant pumps due to low RCS pressure. Approximately 5,500 gallons (20,818 litres) of coolant flowed from the RCS to the refueling water storage pool. Pressurizer level was restored after operators manually started one of the high pressure safety injection pumps. The licensee declared an ALERT emergency classification due to this event. Justification of the rating: This event was rated as level 2 in accordance with Section IV-3.2.1.3 (a) of the 1998 Draft INES User's Manaul, as an event with an actual initiator of possible frequency and safety function operability within operating limits and conditions.
A vast subsea nuclear graveyard planned to hold Britain’s burgeoning piles of radioactive waste is set to become the biggest, longest-lasting and most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the UK. The project [UK's nuclear waste dump] is now predicted to take more than 150yrs to complete with lifetime costs of £66bn in today’s money...The […]
Last year, the Dutch Province of Limburg started an alliance in which, besides the local government, research institutes, small nuclear reactor (SMR) developers, utilities, industrial customers and funders cooperated. With this "Limburg SMR alliance" Limburg tried to lead the way towards an SMR in Limburg. The preferred site for a first SMR would be Chemelot, […]
From the IPFM: During a visit to the Civaux nuclear power plant on 18 March 2024, France's Minister of the Armed Forces unveiled a plan to use the plant to produce tritium for the French nuclear weapons program. Civaux is a civilian power plant that belongs to and is operated by Electricité de France. According […]
An analysis by the Norwegian NGO Bellona of transborder trade operations with the customs code 840130 (irradiated fuel assemblies or fuel elements) show a more than twofold increase of import to EU countries of fresh nuclear fuel in cash terms – from 280 million Euros in 2022 to 686 million Euros in 2023. In physical […]
The French government has said it is "seriously" studying the option of building a plant to convert and enrich reprocessed uranium to cut its reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The only plant in the world that currently converts reprocessed uranium for use in nuclear power plants is in Russia. "The option of […]