NJ Steam Dump due to 100% primary heat-sink loss
Salem NJ Atmospheric Steam Dump due to 100% loss of primary heat-sink.
Power Reactor Event Number: 48457
Facility: SALEM Region: 1 State: NJ Unit: [1] [ ] [ ] RX Type: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP
NRC Notified By: JOHN BRENNAN HQ OPS Officer: ERIC SIMPSON Notification Date: 10/30/2012
Notification Time: 04:10 [ET] Event Date: 10/30/2012 Event Time: 01:09 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 10/30/2012 Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section: 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS ACTUATION - CRITICAL 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUATION
Person (Organization): JOHN CARUSO (R1DO)
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2012/20...
Event Text
MANUAL REACTOR TRIP FROM 100% POWER
"This report if being made under the requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B), Actuation of the Reactor Protection System While Critical, except preplanned, and under the requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A), Valid Actuation of Listed System, except preplanned.
"Salem Unit 1 was operating at 100% reactor power when a loss of 4 condenser circulators required a manual reactor trip in accordance with station procedures. The cause of the 4 circulators being removed from service was due to a combination of high river level and detritus from Hurricane Sandy's transit.
"All control rods inserted. A subsequent loss of the 2 remaining circulators required transition of decay heat removal from condenser steam dumps to the 11-14 MS10s (atmospheric steam dump). Decay heat removal is from the 11/12 Aux Feed Pumps to all 4 steam generators via the 11-14 MS10s. 11/12/13 AFW pumps started due to low level on all steam generators due to shrink from full power operation (this is a normal response). All safety related equipment functioned as expected. No one has been injured. As an additional note, Hurricane Sandy had recently moved past artificial island. Salem Unit 1 is currently in Mode 3. Salem Unit 2 reactor is currently in its 2R19 refueling outage and is shutdown and defueled with no fuel movement in progress."
The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified R1DO (Caruso).
Steam dump
It's instructive to know what a "steam dump" is for these power plants.
A steam dump is a way to transfer energy to the environment when the plant loses the normal disposition of this energy which is the electric generator and the plant's condensers.
When a nuclear power plant does a steam dump, the reactor coolant water is circulated to a heat exchanger where it gives up its heat energy to some water that has never seen the inside of the reactor. That water is at lower pressure than the reactor coolant, and boils easier. The heat from the reactor coolant boils the water that has never seen the inside of the reactor to make steam. This steam is then vented to the air; thus taking away heat that needs to be disposed of.
The water to make the steam is ordinary water that has not been in the reactor and has no man-made radioactivity. The steam dump water is always separated from the reactor coolant water since they are both in different piping loops. Additionally, reactor coolant water can't make this water radioactive. In order to make something radioactive, you have to expose it to neutrons, and the only neutrons are in the reactor where the water used to make the vented steam, never goes.
A Single Point of Failure
Zilch
A Single Point of Failure.
There is ZERO Primary Heat Sink redundancy, Zip, Zero, Zilch, None ... Nada.
Weakest Imaginable Design ... defeated by a (barely) Cat-1 Storm; Empire State hucksterism, whining & begging notwithstanding.
License revocation is in order.
Shut-her-down!
Gross Dereliction
Preliminary Causation/Operational/Response Review:
1) Defective Design
A) Primary Heat Sink Redundancy - absent
B) Back Up Electrical Power - absent
C) Emergency Steam Condensers - absent
D) On site cooling water storage - absent
E) Back Up Pumps, Manifold & Controls - absent
2) Operator Error:
A) Gross Negligence - Inappropriate operation of a known defective design unit, to wit:
B) 100% Power Operational Mode during impending hurricane
3) Disaster Response (International/Federal/State/Local/Operator/Media):
A) Non-Existent
4) Appropriate Regulatory Actions:
A) Suspend Operation
B) Revoke Plant/Operator License(s)
C) MASSIVE fines
D) Hang Several Somebodies ‘out to dry’
E ) Criminal Referrals
Details
You have described one (1) of two (2) possibilities.
If the reactor core is cooling appropriately, then you are likely correct.
We shall suspend judgement upon the matter, until further data is released.
This statement means that I do not live within 500 miles of the reactor. Or I would be putting that kind of distance on my personal vehicle.
The NJ plant had NO primary heat sink at the time of this incident and, if memory serves, no power.
Transitioning from 100% power to 0% entails substantial risks of radioactive releases and/or containment failure.
I do hope you are correct.
WRONG!!! WRONG!!! WRONG!!!
The above poster stated
Transitioning from 100% power to 0% entails substantial risks of radioactive releases and/or containment failure.
That above statement is just plain 100% WRONG
The plant is designed to go from 100% power to 0% power WITHOUT any risk of radioactive release.
If the plant has been damaged in some manner, like Fukushima, where the operators didn't have power for their instrumentation and cooling pumps; then one can have the Fukushima scenario.
However, the NJ plant HAD POWER for a controlled shutdown; so there was ZERO risk of radioactive release.
Use your head; what do they do when the reactor gets into trouble and you want to prevent things from going wrong? They SCRAM the reactor which shuts it down from 100% power to 0% power.
You wouldn't do that if there was a significant chance of releasing radiation; i.e. you'd be triggering what you want to prevent.
NO - a reactor is designed to smoothly shutdown from 100% power to 0%.
It needs shutdown cooling and monitoring to take care of the heat produced by radioactive materials in the core. If you have power; unlike Fukushima; that's no concern.
Silly, Sillier & Silliest
Follows perhaps, one of the silliest statements ever blogged …
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“The plant is designed to go from 100% power to 0% power WITHOUT any risk of radioactive release.”
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“Without ANY risk”, surely you jest. Else you are a prattling fool..
Perhaps in your ‘alternate reality universe’, Superheated Steam is a non-corrosive substance.
Please be advised, that this is, after all, an Engineering Blog. It is ‘just-us-girls’ having a little informal chat. We did NOT park our brains, education, experience, judgment, integrity, evidence and/or common sense … at the door.
Compromised Cooling
Clearly the Cooling Capability was compromised.
All the primay heat-sinks failed ... as one.
Zero Redundancy
Crappie Design (sic)
NO!!
Atmospheric steam dump, which is what they did; is one of the redundant paths.
The statement that "ALL" primary heat-sinks failed in INCORRECT.
Obviously, the atmospheric steam dump, which is one of the redundant primary heat sinks DID work; because that's what they did.
Pitiful - Miserable - Execrable
Pitiful Excuse for a design
Miserable Excuse for a plan
Execrable Excuse for a 'redundant' safety protocol.
Absolutely Unacceptable claptrap
IMHO
Flatulence
A 'Steam Dump' is somewhat similar to Public Flatulence!
A 'Steam Dump' is a declared emergency disaster action.
'Taking a Dump', particularly a nuclear power plant 'Steam Dump', falls somewhat short of an acceptable engineering solution.
Taking an Atmospheric Steam Dump is NOT an acceptable 2ndary, tertiary or quaternary procedure. Such actions are more in keeping with quinary or senary emergency protocols.
Horrible Design!
IMHO
Embrittlement
Controlled Cooling is best.
Rapid Cooldown can increase embrittlement
Particularly in old units.
Gamma, Neutron, and Thermal are contributers to embrittlement failures.
Certainty
It can be stated with ABSOLUTE certainty, that every branch of government, nuclear industry AND the dinosaur media are ready to LIE through their teeth.
IF anything goes wrong at a nuclear plant, the combined efforts of government and media will be directed toward ... MAXIMUM DECEIT!
The hormesis mill is ready to GRIND at a moments notice.
The 'nobody died' choir is fully rehearsed and ready to SING.
The Airplane Analogy and Banana Equivalent Dose deceptions are 'good to go'.
Such tactics have destroyed the global commercial nuclear power industry.
Time to 'shut her down'.
Too much is at stake and the general morality of the players is WOEFULLY inadequate.
Right ON
FINE work, as usual, sir...