An issue has been identified on December 9, 2005, on EDF 900 MW plants likely to involve the unavailability of low pressure safety injection and re-circulation pumps. Real scale tests were performed by EDF to understand the cause of vibrations that were observed on these pumps and confirm the adequacy of the compensatory provisions implemented. When tested at the temperature at which the pumps are supposed to operate, abnormal vibrations of pump engines were observed dues to dilatation and the up shifting of the rotor shaft. The expertise of the pumps has allowed to verify that this phenomenon doesn’t damage the pump. However, given the high level of vibration, the reliability of the pumps cannot be demonstrated, according to EDF, beyond about 30 hours in some accident situations. EDF has proposed to mitigate this anomaly by replacing the engine upper bearings by double stop bearings which will impair the up shifting of the rotor shaft. The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) together with its technical support organisation the IRSN is currently investigating this proposal and will decide if EDF needs to implement complementary provisions. This event is rated at level 2 by the ASN
Location: All NPP - generic Event date: Fri, 09-12-2005
EPZ, the operator of the Borssele nuclear power plant, has long claimed that it recycles "95 percent" of its nuclear fuel, and that only "5 percent" remains as nuclear waste. Following a complaint by Laka, the Board of Appeals of the Dutch Advertising Authority, ruled yesterday that these are misleading environmental advertisement claims. In its […]
(Nederlandse versie) On Sunday, September 11, the Mikhail Dudin arrives in the port of Rotterdam; a ship carrying Russian uranium. There it will be transferred to trucks that will then transport it across the Netherlands on Monday to Lingen, Germany, where the uranium will be processed into fuel rods. This was announced this morning by […]
(Nederlandse versie) Laka sometimes gets the question that if nuclear power plants in France can be used flexibly, can nuclear power not be used as a intermittent source of electricity, complementing wind and solar? The short answer then is, that if nuclear power plants can be used flexibly, it does not mean that in France […]
New brochure focusing on the uranium enrichment consortium Urenco. The Treaty of Almelo was signed on 4 March 1970 ‒ an agreement between the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and West Germany on setting up a company with the aim of enriching uranium: Urenco. The origin of uranium enrichment is military and until then enrichment was […]
Despite its triumphant press release of the contrary, two years ago, NRG, the operator of the High Flux Reactor in the Netherlands, this week confirmed Laka’s suspicion that NRG is still using weapons-grade highly enriched uranium in its reactor. Therefore, the Netherlands is currently in breach of its agreement with Obama, reached at the Nuclear […]
