May 22, 2013

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NRC: Small tritium leak identified at Catawba nuclear plant

May 15, 2013 by

A leak in a discharge pipe caused some contaminated water to seep into the ground at a nuclear plant in York County, according to an event report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Catawba Nuclear Station (Courtesy: NRC)

Catawba Nuclear Station (Courtesy: NRC)

The NRC says Duke Energy notified the agency that more than 100 gallons of water with traces of tritium leaked out of an underground pipe at the Catawba Nuclear Station. Tritium is a mildly-radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is not dangerous unless ingested in large amounts via food or water.

The leak has been classified as a “non-emergency event” by the NRC for now. Spokesman Roger Hannah said Duke found the contamination in the spill was 9,000 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), while the EPA drinking water standard is 20,000 pCi/L.

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Filed Under: Business, Energy, Environment & Conservation, Featured, News

Clyburn: President being “strongly urged” to eliminate MOX program altogether

April 2, 2013 by

A federal program in South Carolina which involves taking surplus weapons-grade plutonium and processing it for use in commercial nuclear power reactors has come under heavy scrutiny in Washington because it has proven to be more costly than expected.

Artist's rendering of the MOX facility (Courtesy: SHAW/AREVA)

Artist’s rendering of the MOX facility (Courtesy: SHAW/AREVA)

The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) was designed to create the experimental form of fuel, but has plagued by costly delays that have added more than $2 billion and 10 years to the project. That’s made it a prime target for federal budget cuts at the Energy Department. Around 2,500 SRS employees began their reduced hours and furloughs this week, with most of those affected being involved in the MOX project.

Speaking to a group of reporters from his Columbia office Tuesday, 6th District Congressman James Clyburn said these cuts are due to cost overruns and have “absolutely nothing to do with sequestration” budget cuts that were triggered last month.

“There has been a controversy brewing for some time now about the federal government’s reaction to the cost overruns… and people are reacting to that,” Clyburn said.

Clyburn and his South Carolina congressional colleagues are concerned about the SRS employees who are affected by the cuts and have sent a letter to the White House expressing their concerns. Clyburn said he understands the entire program may be in jeopardy.

“The president is being strongly urged to eliminate the MOX fuel program altogether,” Clyburn said. Clyburn, who is considered both a strong congressional ally of the president and one of MOX’s defenders, said he’s had personal talks with the White House about the program in an attempt to keep the facility online.

Filed Under: Energy, Featured, News, Politics & Government

Duke Energy seeks permission to raise rates 15 percent

March 19, 2013 by

Duke Energy Carolina has asked for a rate increase that would require its residential customers to pay more. Duke Energy asked South Carolina’s utilities commission for a 15.1 percent overall rate increase on Monday, which includes a 16.3 percent hike for residential customers.

A release from Duke says that more than half of the company’s request for $220 million a year in new revenue would be to repay its capital investments. These investments include two new power plants meant to replace aging coal plants in North Carolina. It also includes upgrades to two nuclear plants, including the Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca. In that case, Duke says the money is needed for new safety and security measures.

Duke is seeking approval of its rate hike from the South Carolina Public Safety Commission. The company says the need is magnified because its costs have been spread among lower sales volumes experienced since the last time the PSC approved a rate change.

Officials say that, if the request is approved, typical residential bills would increase by 16.3 percent. That would increase from about $100 a month to more than $118 for the typical residential bill.

Duke serves 540,000 households and businesses in South Carolina.

Filed Under: Energy, Featured, News

2,000 Savannah River Site employees to be furloughed

March 5, 2013 by
The C Basin at the Savannah River Site (Courtesy: SRNS)

The C Basin at the Savannah River Site (Courtesy: SRNS)

About 2,000 workers at the Savannah River Site near Aiken will begin furloughs next month, according to the contractor that oversees cleanup work at the former nuclear weapons complex. Other employees will see their work hours reduced to zero.

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) notified employees of the impending reductions on Monday. President and CEO Dwayne Wilson says workers will be told by March 15 if they are among those affected. The company blames federal budget cuts that were worsened by the sequester,

“We decided that we would implement a reduced work schedule beginning April 1,” SRNS spokeswoman Barbara Smoak told South Carolina Radio Network, “What that means is approximately 2,000 employees will be impacted and will go to a reduced work schedule.”

Smoak said most of those employees’ work-weeks will be reduced from 40 hours to 32 hours per week. Some workers will have to take “full furloughs,” which means the employee will not technically be laid off but will not be assigned any work hours, either. Those employees who are to be on “full furlough” will be notified next week, the company said. Smoak said those employees would likely come from projects halted or suspended due to the budget cuts. But the company has not yet said what those projects would be.

Smoak said SRNS was already experiencing budget cutbacks even before the automatic federal budget cuts known as “sequestration” took effect last Friday. However, she said sequestration “compounded the issue.”

Officials say they don’t know how long the reductions will be in place.

Filed Under: Business, Energy, Featured, News

Report warns of nuclear waste that could be coming to SRS

March 4, 2013 by

 

An SRS employee stabilizes radioactive waste into a more manageable form for storage in this file photo (Courtesy: Energy Dept)

An SRS employee stabilizes radioactive waste into a more manageable form for storage in this file photo (Courtesy: Energy Dept)

A new report released by an environmental group warns about an increase in radioactive materials at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken and Barnwell counties should the federal government decide to use it as a temporary location for high-level nuclear waste.

The report was released by the environmental group “Don’t Waste Aiken” last week. It was drafted in response to a U.S. Department of Energy ”strategy document” from January that theorizes how to temporarily store spent commercial nuclear fuel that was originally supposed to be stored at the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada before the Obama Administration shut down the project in 2010. SRS is one of the likely candidates until a more permanent solution can be found.

One plan is to establish a “pilot” interim storage site at SRS to handle some of the leftover waste from 17 closed reactors and nuclear labs around the United States. The material could be kept at the Savannah River Site, which produced material for atomic bombs during the Cold War and is now a nuclear research and storage center.

“It’s important that, if people are going to make an informed decision as to whether they accept the responsibility…. they should understand the implications,” said Robert Alvarez, a former Energy Department senior policy advisor who wrote the report on behalf of the organization Don’t Waste Aiken.

Alvarez said the radioactivity of the site could eventually total 1 billion curies (a curie is used to measure the amount of radioactive decay per second). “It would basically more than double the amount of radioactivity in the high-level radioactive waste already at the Savannah River (Site),” he said.

However, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness director Clint Wolfe said the report uses questionable numbers in an attempt to scare locals. Wolfe said each of the four active nuclear plants across South Carolina already contains several billion curies of radiation. Wolfe, a former nuclear industry executive, said the amount of curies at a site does not matter— it’s how that material is handled and stored.

Wolfe said the Savannah River Site has already had a similar amount of radioactive material stored on site in its history, before much of it was shipped to New Mexico. “(Environmental groups) are trying to generate an emotional response in people instead of looking at the facts,” Wolfe said, “Nuclear waste has not been a health hazard. It can be an environmental hazard if it’s not contained properly, but all the stuff they’re talking about… is in containers that are approved.”

The Department of Energy released a three-point plan for replacing Yucca Mountain in January. The plan calls for establishing an interim storage site by 2021 and a larger interim storage site by 2025. A permanent disposal ground would be available by 2048, according to the agency.

Filed Under: Energy, Environment & Conservation, Featured, News
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