Unlike Fukushima, which was at the mercy of a natural disaster, an accident at Zaporizhzhia as a result of a wartime attack is entirely preventable.
https://blog.ucsusa.org/edwin-lyman/can-the-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-avoid-a-major-disaster/
Ukraine and Russia need to establish safe zones around nuclear plants to avoid a catastrophe.
With the world facing overwhelming and immediate threats from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the risks of nuclear power are probably far from the thoughts of most people. But there is...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/edwin-lyman/nuclear-power-safety-and-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry recently announced the launch of the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) project, flagging it as one of the department’s top priorities. The project, wh...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/edwin-lyman/alternatives-to-multibillion-dollar-test-reactor/
Nuclear power reactors spilt atoms to release energy used to generate electricity. Many of the byproducts formed when atoms split are unstable (radioactive) and release particles or gamma rays in...
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 5...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/fatal-accident-at-arkansas-one/
The Clinton Power Station is located 23 miles southeast of Bloomington, Illinois and has one General Electric boiling water reactor with a Mark III containment that began operating in 1987. In De...
In August 2018, Georgia Power announced raised its estimate of the construction costs for its 45.7% share of the two new reactors being constructed at the Vogtle nuclear plant by $1.1 billion fro...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/vogtle-and-hatch-safety-performance/
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 st...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/breaking-containment-at-crystal-river-3/
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety 9 The Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Delta, Pennsylvania is known for its tireless workers. They stop working long before getting tired and nap wh...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/naughty-and-nice-nuclear-nappers/
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #8 In the mid-1960s, the nuclear safety regulator raised concerns about the reliability of the system relied upon to protect the public in event of a re...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/anticipated-transient-without-scram/
The initial commentary in this series of posts described how a three-person panel formed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to evaluate concerns raised by an NRC worker concluded that the...
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 be...
There’s been abundant talk recently about obstruction of justice—who may or may not have impeded this or that investigation. Rather than chime in on a bad thing, obstruction of justice, this ...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/columbia-station-whitewash/
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #6 Both reactors at the DC Cook nuclear plant in Michigan shut down in September 1997 until a containment design flaw identified by a Nuclear Regulatory...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/containment-flaw-at-dc-cook/
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #5 St. Lucie Unit 1 began operating in 1976. From the beginning, it was required by federal regulations to be protected against flooding from external h...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/flooding-at-a-florida-nuclear-plant/
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #4 The Yankee Rowe nuclear plant in Massachusetts was a forerunner in the industry pursuing extensions to the original 40-year operating license. But it...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/yankee-rowe-and-reactor-vessel-safety/
Regulation and Nuclear Plant Safety #3 In July 2004, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspectors at the Waterford nuclear plant in Louisiana discovered that a portion of piping in a standby em...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/empty-pipe-dreams-at-palo-verde/
Regulation and Nuclear Plant Safety #2 A man recently released from a hospital where he had been treated for mental health issues drove his mother’s station wagon into—literally—the Three M...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/three-mile-island-intruder/
In January 2018, the NRC circulated within the agency a 100-page report titled “Study of Reprisal and Chilling Effect for Raising Mission-Related Concerns and Differing Views at the NRC.” T...
Regulation and Nuclear Power Safety #1 In July 1981, water flooded the Radwaste Processing Building containing highly radioactive waste for Unit 1 at the Nine Mile Point nuclear plant in upstate ...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/flooding-at-nine-mile-point/
President Trump seeks to lessen the economic burden from excessive regulation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated Project AIM before the 2016 elections seeking to right-size the ag...
https://blog.ucsusa.org/dlochbaum/role-of-nuclear-regulation-intro/
Last year, we posted a commentary and an update about a high energy arc fault (HEAF) event that occurred at the Turkey Point nuclear plant in Florida. The update included color photographs obtain...
What do the Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2, Beaver Valley Unit 1, Beaver Valley Unit 2, Big Rock Point, Callaway, Calvert Cliffs Unit 1, Calvert Cliffs Unit 2, Catawba Unit 2, Comanche Peak Unit 1, ...