grandgulf


The “Race” to Resolve the Boiling Water Reactor Safety Limit Problem

, director, Nuclear Safety Project

April 24, 2018 6:00 AM EDT

General Electric (GE) informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March 2005 that its computer analyses of a depressurization event for boiling water reactors (BWRs) non-conservatively assumed the transient would be terminated by the automatic trips of the main turbine and reactor on high water level in the reactor vessel. GE’s updated computer studies revealed that one of four BWR safety limits could be violated before another automatic response terminated the event.

Over the ensuring decade-plus, owners of 28 of the 34 BWRs operating in the US applied for and received the NRC’s permission to fix the problem. But it’s not clear why the NRC allowed this known safety problem, which could allow nuclear fuel to become damaged, to linger for so long or why the other six BWRs have yet to resolve the problem. UCS has asked the NRC’s Inspector General to look into why and how the NRC tolerated this safety problem affecting so many reactors for so long. Read more >

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Grand Gulf: Three Nuclear Safety Miscues in Mississippi Warranting NRC’s Attention

, director, Nuclear Safety Project

November 8, 2017 6:00 AM EDT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reacted to a trio of miscues at the Grand Gulf nuclear plant in Mississippi by sending a special inspection team to investigate. While none of the events had adverse nuclear safety consequences, the NRC team identified significantly poor performance by the operators in all three. The recurring performance shortfalls instill little confidence that the operators would perform successfully in event of a design basis or beyond design basis accident. Read more >

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Grand Gulf: Emergency Pump’s Broken Record and Missing Record

, director, Nuclear Safety Project

October 31, 2017 6:00 AM EDT

The Grand Gulf Nuclear Station located about 20 miles south of Vicksburg, Mississippi is a boiling water reactor with a Mark III containment that was licensed to operate by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in November 1984. It recently set a dubious record. Read more >

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Severe Accident Management Guidelines for Nuclear Plants

, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 8, 2016 6:00 AM EDT

Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #22

Disaster by Design

The March 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania showed that the procedures used by workers in responding to accidents could be significantly improved. Read more >

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Remote Control at Nuclear Power Plants

, director, Nuclear Safety Project

February 9, 2016 6:00 AM EDT

Disaster by Design: Safety by Intent #18

Disaster by Design

Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #17 covered command and control problems at nuclear power plants that undermined safety. Remote control is required at nuclear power plants to provide capabilities when the control room has to be abandoned. This commentary covers remote control and some of its problems. Read more >

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