Clik here to view.
Fission Stories #27: Jellyfish Put Nuclear Plant in a Jam
Jellyfish appear harmless. Despite an occasional tale about swimmers being stung by jellyfish, Hollywood movies always feature shark attacks. No National Geographic special has featured cameramen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fission Stories #46: Powerless Nuclear Power Plants
Did the station blackout event at Vogtle described in Fission Stories #45 shock the nuclear industry into taking actions to prevent recurrence? Hardly.Almost exactly one year later, on March 7, 1991,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fission Stories #48: Hurricane Andrew vs. Turkey Point
Figure 1 Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida on August 24, 1992. The eye of the hurricane, which had sustained winds of up to 145 miles per hour with gusts up to 175 miles per hour, passed directly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turkey Point Nuclear Plant in Hot Water
Fission Stories #179 Earlier this summer, the owner of the Turkey Point nuclear plant in Florida requested and the NRC approved a change in the maximum limit on cooling water used by plant. For years,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nuclear Power(less) Plants
Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #3 Disaster by Design The primary purpose of commercial nuclear power plants in the U.S. is to generate electricity. When not fulfilling that role, nuclear power...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Safety Relief Valves Fail to Provide Safety or Relief at Nuclear Plants
Disaster by Design: Safety by Intent #6 Disaster by Design The light water reactors currently operating in the U.S. are either boiling water reactors (BWRs) or pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spent Fuel Damage: Pool Criticality Accident
Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #29 Disaster by Design Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #26 described a progression leading to overheating and damage to a reactor core, often labeled a meltdown....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turkey Point: Fire and Explosion at the Nuclear Plant
The Florida Power & Light Company’s Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station about 20 miles south of Miami has two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors that began operating in the early 1970s....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Florida’s Nuclear Plants and Hurricane Irma
Will Florida’s two nuclear plants, Turkey Point and St. Lucie, be able to withstand Hurricane Irma? Florida governor Rick Scott, the utility Florida Power & Light (FP&L), and the US Nuclear...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Update: Turkey Point Fire and Explosion
An earlier commentary described how workers installing a fire retardant wrap around electrical cables inside Switchgear Room 3A at the Turkey Point nuclear plant in Florida inadvertently triggered an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Breaking Containment at Crystal River 3
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #10 The Crystal River 3 pressurized water reactor in Florida was shut down in September 2009 for refueling. During the refueling outage, the original steam...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fatal Accident at Arkansas Nuclear One
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #11 The Fatal Accident As described in Fission Stories #139 and illustrated in Fission Stories #181, a temporary crane removing a component weighing 525 tons...
View ArticleFission Stories #27: Jellyfish Put Nuclear Plant in a Jam
Jellyfish appear harmless. Despite an occasional tale about swimmers being stung by jellyfish, Hollywood movies always feature shark attacks. No National Geographic special has featured cameramen being...
View ArticleFission Stories #46: Powerless Nuclear Power Plants
Did the station blackout event at Vogtle described in Fission Stories #45 shock the nuclear industry into taking actions to prevent recurrence? Hardly.Almost exactly one year later, on March 7, 1991,...
View Article
