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Pipe Rupture at Surry Nuclear Plant Kills Four Workers

, former director, Nuclear Safety Project

August 9, 2018 6:00 AM EDT

Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #7

Both reactors at the Surry nuclear plant near Williamsburg, Virginia operated at full power on December 9, 1986. Around 2:20 pm, a valve in a pipe between a steam generator on Unit 2 and its turbine inadvertently closed due to a re-assembly error following recent maintenance. The valve’s closure resulted in a low water level inside the steam generator, which triggered the automatic shutdown of the Unit 2 reactor. The rapid change from steady state operation at full power to zero power caused a transient as systems adjusted to the significantly changed conditions. About 40 seconds after the reactor trip, a bend in the pipe going to one of the feedwater pumps ruptured. The pressurized water jetting from the broken pipe flashed to steam. Several workers in the vicinity were seriously burned by the hot vapor. Over the next week, four workers died from the injuries. Read more >

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Nuclear Safety Performance at Pilgrim

, former director, Nuclear Safety Project

February 6, 2017 6:00 AM EDT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a public meeting on Tuesday, January 31, 2017, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A large crowd of over 300 individuals (perhaps thousands more by White House math) attended, including me. Elected officials in Massachusetts—the attorney general, the governor, the entire US Congressional delegation, and state senators and representatives—had requested the meeting. Many of these officials, or their representatives, attended the meeting.

The elected officials asked the NRC to conduct a public meeting to discuss the contents of an email from the leader of an NRC inspection team at Pilgrim to others within the agency regarding the results from the first week’s efforts. An NRC staffer forwarded this email to others within the agency, and inadvertently to Diane Turco of the Cape Downwinders, a local organization. The contents of the leaked email generated considerable attention.

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Nuclear Regulatory Crusader

, former director, Nuclear Safety Project

January 23, 2017 6:00 AM EDT

To many, the acronym NRC stands for Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At times, NRC has been said to stand for Nobody Really Cares, Nuclear Rubberstamp Committee, and Nielsen Ratings Commission.

In regard to Larry Criscione, it may stand for Nuclear Regulatory Crusader. Read more >

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Rapid Regulator Response

, former director, Nuclear Safety Project

October 4, 2016 6:00 AM EDT

Disaster by Design/ Safety by Intent #52

Safety by Intent

The discovery of significant corrosion to the reactor vessel head at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio gave the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a figurative black eye. On the same day in April 2002 that the NRC announced it rated Davis-Besse one of the top performing nuclear plants in the country, the agency reported that the corrosion spanning several years at the plant had compromised safety margins more than any event since the Three Mile Island accident in March 1979.

The well-deserved black eye overshadowed what had been stellar performance by a regulator with eyes wide open seeing a safety problem and swiftly acting to effectively resolve it in a timely manner. Prior commentaries have chronicled the NRC’s shortcomings. This commentary covers the history before the NRC snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Read more >

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Nuclear Reactors and Flood Protection

, former director, Nuclear Safety Project

September 6, 2016 6:00 AM EDT

Disaster by Design/ Safety by Intent #48

Safety by Intent

Oconee Flood Protection Issue

In August 2006, NRC inspectors identified a deficiency in a flood protection measure at the Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina. Specifically, the inspectors discovered that workers removed a 6-inch by 10-inch panel in the 5-foot tall flood wall around the Standby Shutdown Facility (SSF) to allow temporary cables to be used during a modification. When the work was completed and the cables removed, the panel was not re-installed.

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