NRC info from the past two weeks related to Browns Ferry, Fleet Feet Huntsville 2011 race calendar, Some recent CRS reports via the Federation of American Scientists

Browns Ferry related NRC docs from the past two weeks

1. ML110700157 - E-mail from M. Vaaler, NRR to A. Howe, NRR et al. on Plants Submitting Fire Protection OMA Exemption Requests to Extend Enforcement Discretion.
2. ML110700158 - E-mail from M. Vaaler, NRR to T. Boyce, NRR on DRAFT E-mail to Management Regarding OMA Exemptions.
3. ML110691285 - E-mail from D. Frumkin, NRR to B. Metzger, NRR FW: Support for Manual Action Exemption Reviews.
4. ML110691142 - E-mail from P. Lain, NRR to A. Boatright, NRR RE: DRA Action List.
5. ML110590054 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 - Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Regarding Amendment Request to Transition to AREVA Fuel.
6. ML110610339 - LER 10-004-00 for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 3, re Manual Reactor Scram Due to High Vibration on the Generator Exciter Inboard and Outboard Journal Bearings.
7. ML110610739 - Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2 and 3, Information Related to the Safety Significance of the Apparent Violation Concerning Failure of Unit 1 Residual Heat Removal System Low Pressure Injection Valve.
8. ML110600408 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 2 & 3 - Technical Specification Change TS-429 - Deletion of Low Pressure Coolant Injection Motor-Generator Sets.
9. ML110610738 - Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, and 3, Sequoyah, Units 1 and 2, Watts Bar, Units 1 & 2, Submittal Of Report In Accordance With 10 CFR 26.719(c)(1) for Drug And Alcohol Testing Errors.
10. ML110590055 - ANP-2988NP, Revision 0, "Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1, AREVA Fuel Transition Input to TVA for RAIs," Enclosure 3.
11. ML110610737 - Tennessee Valley Authority - Fitness for Duty Annual Program Performance Data, January through December 2010.
12. ML110670225 - Browns Ferry, Unit 2 - Core Operating Limits Report for Cycle 17 Operation.
13. ML110630441 - Browns Ferry, Inspection/Activity Plan 03/01/2011 - 06/30/2012.
14. ML110540131 - Browns Ferry, Units 1 & 2, Sequoyah, 1 & 2, Watts Bar, Units 1 & 2, Request for Additional Information Regarding Cyber Security Plans Based on Nuclear Energy Institute 08-09, Revision 6.
15. ML110730703 - Brownsferry Nuclear Plant, NRC Emergency Preparedness Annual Inspection Report 05000259-10-502, 05000260-10-502 and 05000296-10-502.
16. ML110660349 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3 - Request For Additional Information Regarding Technical Specification Change TS-474 (TAC Nos. ME4668, ME4669, and ME4670).
17. ML110630427 - Annual Assessment Letter for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 1 (IR 05000259,260,296-11-001).

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Fleet Feet Huntsville 2011 race calendar

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Here's a link to the most recent collection of CRS reports posted by the Federation of American Scientists in their Secrecy News newsletter...

ScienceCasts: Super Moon

Tonight. The forecast at NWS Huntsville currently says mostly cloudy, so this might be hit or miss...

NRC, INPO, NEI, ANS.....

This information notice was sent out to all operators of nuclear power plants today. The purpose section is the most concise statement of the document:

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice (IN) to inform addressees of effects of the Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake on nuclear power plants in Japan. The NRC expects that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems. Suggestions contained in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.

One might presume that this is meaningless since it specifically mentions that "no specific action or written response is required." That's kind of where INPO comes in. While the NRC verifies that nuclear plants comply with the law, INPO (a utility-sponsored entity) is there to measure and improve plant performance to above the minimum requirements of law. Earlier this week, INPO (the link provided only gives very generic information about INPO) sent out guidelines for actions to be taken by all plant operators to be as certain as possible that nuclear plants can deal with postulated disasters. Speaking only from my immediate realm of experience, TVA had already started (prior to INPO's guidance) to form teams to evaluate and improve safety margins from disasters at their nuclear plants. I'm sure that TVA is not alone...

Update from about 45 minutes ago from the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum and...

Reactor Status Update 11 - NPPs in Fukushima as of 10:00 March 18 - http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1300411879P.pdf

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Beagán agus a rá go maith.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm hoisting a Guinness!

TVA's Bill McCollum talking about Japan Situation

NHK World live stream

Video clips at Ustream

On things nuclear...

I have been affiliated with nuclear power in some form or fashion since 1992. I will say right now that I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF AN EXPERT. I DO consider myself to be a highly trained professional. In the course of the nearly twenty years of training and operation of nuclear plants, I can say that I have worked and currently work with some of the most intelligent and genuinely concerned for the public safety folks I have ever met. I thoroughly believe that the operators and plant staff in Japan have identical attributes.

Regarding nuclear plants and their susceptibility to natural disasters, Japan has been presented with a situation that has far exceeded the worst expectations. Even in light of that fact, the consequences of this situation will be nowhere near the consequences of Chernobyl. The three units that have had accidents at Fukushima Daiichi will not operate as they were constructed ever again (if at all). However, as a testament to the courage and ability of the operators in Japan, the damage and contamination (as things stand right now) will very likely be limited to a highly localized area.

A number of human endeavors are fraught with some amount of hazard. There is a risk while driving your vehicle to and from work on a daily basis. Granted, the risk is small and if something goes wrong, the reach of the problem will be extremely limited. A very few examples of industries that have definite human benefits but larger risks follow:

Nuclear power
Natural gas (and associated pipelines, etc.)
Pesticide and other chemical manufacturing
Molasses (I include this in jest, but molasses can kill - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster)

In 1984, several thousand lives were lost in Bhopal, India due to a major leak of methyl isocyanate. The long-term effects of Bhopal are still being documented. As with Chernobyl, there were SERIOUS design flaws and human faults that led to people dying. This is emphatically not the case in Japan.

All of this gets me to my main point. I am STILL pro-nuclear power. I want to see the nuclear industry grow and evolve. My current sense of the environment of pro-nuclear entities is that they are wanting to drive ahead with construction and licensing/operation while giving the APPEARANCE of not taking a pause to understand the implications of the disaster in Japan. I know that this is not the case. The lessons of what has happened in Japan already and what will happen until this emergency is over are being considered even as I type this. There will be a lot more to be learned from what has happened. In general, the industry is hesitant to allow for too much delay for further study and evaluation and regulation evolution in small part due to cost and in large part because these are some of the tactics that have been used by anti-nuclear entities to stifle and hold the nuclear power industry in check since Three Mile Island. As an industry, we can't afford to give the appearance of plowing ahead without thinking. As any folks who work in my industry can repeat like a mantra - "Nuclear technology is recognized as special and unique". As an industry that I hope to see continue, we need to be straightforward with the public about what actions we are currently taking to prevent similar situations from happening in the United States and the results of the actions we take from the lessons learned from Japan.

Upper 60s and partly to mostly cloudy. Nice day to step outside and enjoy the fresh air...

Marvin Fertel, President of the Nuclear Energy Institute, on NBC's Meet The Press this morning

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

IAEA Director General's Update on Tsunami and Earthquake Emergency Response

12 March 2011, 2000 CET IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano provided a video statement on the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Director General Amano expressed his sincerest condolences for the lives and homes lost, and said "My heart goes out to the people of my home country as they rise to the challenge of this immense tragedy."

Director General Amano notes the current effort to prevent further damage to Unit 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

In response to the situation, Director General Amano also explained the IAEA's dual role to use emergency communication channels to exchange verified, official information between Japan and other IAEA Member States, as well as to coordinate the delivery of international assistance, should Japan or other affected countries request it.

Great info regarding Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html

http://twitter.com/#!/N_E_I

http://twitter.com/#!/iaeaorg

http://www.facebook.com/iaeaorg?sk=wall

VNV Nation - Frika

I love the pounding beat and high tension in this song. I've found that I enjoy running while listening to it (among several other high energy VNV tunes). As an aside, I've never experienced true rage, but if I did, this song would be part of the soundtrack to said rage...



Lyrics:

Over time desire shall fall and lie and fade
Await unequaled thought and virtuosity
Desire lies in wait, a precious cup, a stone or some such
Absent moments, ones which raised the heart to stand so great

Cannot choose not to deny
Blame falls easy silently
Darkness preferable, comfort found again
In solitude, a door into an empty room
A door to familiar desolation
The spoils of past years lost for reason
Lost for some notions of new days

Inside there is gentleness
Calm preceding tears
Oh, cry again, cry again
Moment of toil, moment of toil

Call the Gods to answer me
Hear me say, 'Oh, hear my pain!'
Call the Gods to answer me
Frika come! Frika come!

Promise and enlightenment abounded
Felled like trees and pillars that held me high
Running blind, running blind
On stony ground I stumble and vow return

Inside there is gentleness
Calm preceding tears
Oh, cry again, cry again
Moment of toil, moment of toil
Call the Gods to answer me
Hear me say, 'Oh, hear my pain!'
Call the Gods to answer me.
Frika come! Frika come!

Inside there is anger now
Calm precedes the rage
Cry again, oh, cry again
Moment of toil, moment of toil
Call the Gods to answer me
Hear me say, 'Hear my pain!'
All the Gods to answer me
Frika come! Oh, Frika come!

10K day

No matter what you believe (or don't believe)....

The people of Japan need your prayers (or best wishes) and more than likely in the next days, weeks and months, will require help.

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Closely tied to this, but more up my alley regarding work, the newswires and twitterverse are blazing with stories about Japanese nuke plants. In particular, the worst affected plant appears to be Fukushima Daiichi. The latest news (as I'm typing this) is that the plant might release "radioactive vapor".

To be clear, this is a well-established (and highly monitored/controlled) strategy to minimize the effects following an emergency situation at a nuclear power plant. As always, I would rather hear the info from the horse's mouth than twitter or most news outlets because there are plenty of people who have an agenda or are slightly (or grossly) misinformed. You might say that the "horse's mouth" might tell lies. I tend to believe that the operators of these plants want to be truthful because if it comes out that they withheld the truth, there will be heck to pay in the end.

Regarding the horse's mouth...

If you can read Japanese:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/index-j.html

http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/

http://kinkyu.nisa.go.jp/

Translated:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tepco.co.jp%2Ftepconews%2Findex-j.html

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nisa.meti.go.jp%2F

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fkinkyu.nisa.go.jp%2F

"Creating The United States" & "Thomas Jefferson's Library" exhibitions via the Library of Congress...

Creating The United States

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Thomas Jefferson's Library

I was just getting ready to do some running..

I figured I'd download some MORE up-tempo beat driven music. Example:

Enjoy!!!!

Creative Music by Zzaj

Browns Ferry docs, Crack and the McBeast, Top 10 THOMAS items

NRC documents for Browns Ferry from 2/26/2011-3/5/2011:

1. ML110550646 - Browns Ferry, Unit 1 - American Society of Mechanical Engineers Section Xl, Inservice Inspection, System Pressure Test, Containment Inservice Inspection, and Repair and Replacement Programs - Owner's Activity Report for Cycle 8 Operation.
2. ML110460496 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 - Safety Evaluation For Relief Request 1-ISI-26, "Risk-Informed Inservice Inspection Program."
3. ML110610641 - NRC Report 0 5000259/2010005, 05000260/2010005, and 05000296/2010005; Preliminary Greater Than Green Finding Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

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So, the wife unit, one each, was part of a craft show this weekend. I had hoped that I would get called to work some OT (daytime) on Saturday, but that just wasn't to be. Anyway, I learned two things. I probably learned more than that, but two things stuck out prominently in my mind.

First thing...

I LOVE THIS STUFF. I just made two batches (one for home and one for work). It's called cracker candy, but it's more like crack...

Second...

After I dropped Suzanne off on Saturday, I figured I'd give McDonald's new oatmeal a try. I was eating my tasty oatmeal fairly close to the order counter. Dude's order came out to be $6.66. Neither he nor the cashier would have that. The cashier suggested another item to change the total from the mark of the McBeast. The additional item order was on the tip of the customer's tongue right before the cashier made her suggestion. I'm sorry, but I am NOT concerned if there are thirteen folks at a table or a transaction comes out to a certain amount. My humble opinion: Such fears are extraordinarily IRRATIONAL.

I DO realize why people say they do such things.

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Top ten legislative items searched on THOMAS, compiled on 3/6/2011 from weekly usage statistics

1. H.R. 1 - [112th] - Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011
2. H.R. 662 - [112th] - Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011
3. H.R. 3 - [112th] - No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
4. H.R. 4 - [112th] - Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011
5. H.R. 3590 - [111th] - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
6. H.R. 3082 - [111th] - Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011
7. H.R. 514 - [112th] - FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011
8. H.R. 4173 - [111th] - Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
9. H.R. 4709 - [111th] - E 2 for Innovation Act
10. H.R. 1 - [111th] - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

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Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor ft. Pitbull (Main Version)

I just heard this and thought "Wow, how BEP!" However, it's not a far stretch to liken this song to early 90s dance club stuff. Biggest difference is the addition of a bit of rap and updated electronics. All in all, I REALLY liked this song. If nothing else, it mentally took me back to places like The Edge and JJ Whispers in Orlando, FL. Those were the days...

Beautiful day for a run...

I'm still slower than I would like, but my 10K pace on this was 51:30. A couple of weeks ago, that pace was 54:19. Keep running!