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Was There a Major Safety Issue Found at Comanche Peak Recently?

The Editor's Column
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2006/12/17 23:29:04 (1389 reads)

Though I'm not a full-time journalist, I do attempt to publish only substantiated stories here, and not rumors. However, the cat is out of the bag that I'm following a lead about major safety issues recently found at Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant.

Since I covered the Michael Burgess Town Hall meeting this summer, and he mentioned Nuclear power as being in his preferred list of options, I've wanted to do a few blogs to thoroughly explore the issue, explaining as best I can in layman's terms how nuclear energy works. I put out the first in my 3 part series about Nuclear Energy this summer, and have been sitting on part II waiting on some time after the elections to get more news resources and examples of the various types of safety failures I was trying to explain.

That's why it piqued my interest when I heard on KERA 90.1 FM (our local NPR affiliate) on Friday, Dec. 8th that inspectors had found 2 major problems in the nuclear power plant in Glen Rose: Firstly, that a water tank designed to flood and cool the reactor in the case of an emergency situation had been left dry, and apparently may have been dry for a period of years. Secondly that some of the chemical mixtures for the reactor had been improperly formulated.

Today, when I went googling for that story, I was unable to turn it up anywhere, so I sent an email inquiry to one of the local bloggers down in that area at the Somervell County Salon to see whether they had heard anything of this story.


I've been unable to find a report of it on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's websites for Comanche Peak:
Comanche Peak Reactor #1
Comanche Peak Reactor #2
This of course assumes that it was the NRC that found the problem. I suppose it could have possibly been the NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration).


At any rate, I'll keep looking for information on the problem, and will publish an update when I find it. In the mean time, if anyone reading this knows where I might find a copy of the report or the citation, either confirming or discrediting this story, please contact me, or post a comment.

If I understand the problem correctly, this was a failure of the safety system that would have been used in the case that the reactor needed emergency cooling water to quench the heat and/or slow the reaction by using a chemical mixture that reduces neutron flux. I'm speculating to some extent because I'm not a nuclear chemist, nor am I familiar with the plant's design, nor have I seen the report - only heard it on the radio.

To put this in an analogy I think is fair, imagine going in to get a tire changed on your car, and you discover that lo and behold, your brake is totally missing on that wheel. Further, your car shows evidence that it's been missing the brake for years. All this time, even after taking your car to the shop for professional maintenance, you've been driving with only 75% of your braking power. Now imagine that instead of a 2 ton car capable of thousands of dollars in damage, and killing several people, you're driving a rig that has an output rated in gigawatts and kilotons, and is capable of killing thousands and costing billions in damage. If the story is true, it's quite disturbing.

In the event of a meltdown or containment breech at Comanche Peak, residents of Glen Rose would be the first to buy the farm, but depending on weather conditions, the DFW Metroplex could see mass casualties as well

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Poster Thread
WhosPlayin
Posted: 2006/12/18 21:55  Updated: 2006/12/18 21:55
Editor
Joined: 2008/12/12
From:
Posts: 3557
Online!
 TXU, KERA Contacted for Comment
Just to follow up, I've continued searching for this story. It's just not to be found in NPR's online transcript search. I've contacted both KERA news department and TXU, and am currently awaiting a response from both.

If anyone has any knowledge of the incident, please contact me by emailing webmaster at whosplayin dot com.
Reply

Poster Thread
WhosPlayin
Posted: 2006/12/18 23:02  Updated: 2006/12/18 23:02
Editor
Joined: 2008/12/12
From:
Posts: 3557
Online!
 Comanche Peak inspected in November - NRC documents only go to March
A TXU spokesman is looking into the story but seemed doubtful that something as serious as this would have happened without him hearing about it.

He noted that the NRC had recently inspected Comanche Peak in November of 2006.

The November inspection report is not available online, but the Comanche Peak inspection report completed March 17, 2006 was not delivered until April 17th, one month later. Comanche Peak passed that inspection with only minor non-cited violations.
Reply

Poster Thread
Anonymous
Posted: 2006/12/19 23:07  Updated: 2006/12/19 23:40
 Could this be the original source?
http://stevesmarketanddeli.com/2005/1 ... eak-how-would-this-be.htm

Commanche Peak: How would this be handled in Texas ?

Problem with reactor cooling system went undetected for yearsBy BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX — A potential problem with the emergency reactor core cooling system at the nation's largest nuclear power plant went undetected since it began producing power in 1986, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the plant operator confirmed Thursday.
The issue was identified when engineers at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station did an analysis after NRC inspectors raised questions at a detailed inspection early last week. The NRC was following up to see if earlier cooling system problems had been fixed.
The plant provides electricity for as many as 4 million customers in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico served by seven utility companies.
The review showed the emergency cooling system may not operate as expected to provide water to reactor cores after a small leak in the reactor cooling lines, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said.


This appears to be a blog entry from 2005 misspelling "Comanche" as "Commanche" (perhaps both spellings are correct when referring to the tribe?) Anyhow, I'm not sure how it would have gotten on the radio.
Reply


Other articles
2013/5/20 22:37:59 - Please Help
2013/5/20 20:44:02 - Learning From the Rise and Fall of Michelle Rhee
2013/5/17 17:10:00 - Movie Review: "The Great Gatsby" 8/10
2013/5/16 19:10:00 - State Fire Marshal and ATF Rule Cause of West Fire as Undetermined
2013/5/15 22:00:00 - Wednesday Night Update - Severe weather edition
2013/5/14 18:00:00 - Read the Inspector General's Report on IRS Scrutiny of Certain Tax-Exempt Organizations
2013/5/14 1:03:52 - What Rick Perry Can Learn From California
2013/5/12 16:00:00 - Lewisville Memorial Day Observance Scheduled for May 27th - 8 a.m.
2013/5/10 9:20:00 - Local Election Results - Lewisville City Council, LISD Board of Trustees - 5/11/2013
2013/5/10 0:20:17 - Pipes and Drums Concert Friday night


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