Cooling Problem Shuts Ariz. Reactor

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2006/jan/18/011803765.html

PHOENIX (AP) - A reactor at the nation's largest nuclear power plant was shut down because of a growing vibration in a coolant pipe.

Arizona Public Service Co. had been operating the reactor, one of three at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, at about one-third of capacity because of vibration, but operators decided to shut it down Tuesday after the vibration rose above acceptable levels.

<snip>

The utility said the installation of the unit's new 800-ton steam generators and low-pressure turbines could have contributed to the increased vibration.

Problems over the last two years at Palo Verde, about 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, have caused more than a dozen shutdowns.

<more>

[Caution]

1. Nice to see safety measures working as intended.

[Ian David]

2. PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT: Bush names Reid aide to fill NRC spot

PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT: Bush names Reid aide to fill NRC spot

Senator's adviser on Yucca Mountain, nuclear proponent's pick both tapped
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- President Bush followed through on a deal Wednesday, appointing an aide to Sen. Harry Reid to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that sets rules for nuclear waste disposal.

Bush filled a vacancy on the commission with Gregory B. Jaczko, 34, Reid's chief adviser on the Yucca Mountain Project, a program the Nevada Democrat opposes and has tried to kill.

<snip>

The appointee, Peter B. Lyons, is a professional staff member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a senior adviser to Domenici, the panel chairman, on nuclear energy, research and development and hydrogen.

<snip>

Bush named Jaczko and Lyons to the NRC using his executive powers to make direct appointments during official Senate recesses, enabling the appointees to bypass formal confirmation that had caused a stalemate over the politically charged posts. The appointments are effective until Congress ends its session late in 2006.

Reid forced the White House into a deal late last year to place Jaczko on the NRC after Reid held up about 175 other appointees to Bush administration jobs.

More:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jan-20-Thu-2005/news/25700968.html

[jpak]

3. Other plants with vibration problems

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2004/2004-10-18-03.asp

[Oerdin]

4. Wow

You mean the safety measures worked exactly as planned at all of those plants too?

[Dead_Parrot]

5. Here's a scary thought:

Emergency room doctor Ira Helfand from Northampton said, "My emergency room cannot deal with the casualties that would be produced by an accident at this plant..."

Better not slip and twist an ankle in their cafeteria - you'd bring the local hospital to a standstill... :D

[Massacure]

6. And the risk is tiny too.

I would be willing to say that many California hospitals wouldn't be able to cope with a 8.0 magnitude Earthquake. People seem to have no problem accepting that risk...

[aztc]

7. Again already?

Drat, and they just got that fixed a few weeks ago, or was that something else that caused the last shutdown?

Say, how much government money is keeping this monster alive anyway?