Unit 4 was shut down for overhaul and refuelling, maintenance works were underway. At 13:45 a release of cooling water from the refuelling pool through the main closing valve (MCV) and SG manhole into SG hermetic box was remarked. All works were stopped. The water level in the refuelling pool decreased by 27 cm which corresponds to 16.6 cubic meter. Estimated volume of water penetrating to SG box was between 3-8 cubic meter. Maximum surface contamination measured was 6 Bq/cm2 (limit 37 Bq/cm2). There was no injury or irradiation of NPP staff, no off-site impact. released water was drained into a special canalization system of SG hermetic boxes. After clarifying of release reason and decontamination the authorization to resume refuelling works was issued at 20.00 h. Investigations of the event showed that the unauthorized manipulation with MCV during maintenance works was the reason of the event. Corrective measures were suggested.Justification: According to INES user's manual, Part III, paragraph III-3.7 unplanned discharge or releases - this event was preliminarily classified as INES level 1.
Everywhere you look, the nuclear industry’s hype machine is in overdrive. Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and the UK government all tout small modular reactors as the silver bullet for climate change and energy security. Tech billionaires are hiring nuclear veterans. Wall Street is whispering about “round-the-clock power” for artificial intelligence data centers. For those old enough […]
Kernenergie en veiligheid: A wargame sought to test if a major radiological release that would prompt the evacuation of millions of civilians in South Korea could distract key US allies from assisting and rebuffing an all-out military invasion of Taiwan. The short answer was yes. The game originally presumed that China, wanting to keep the […]
Big batteries and EVs to the rescue again as faults with new nuclear plant cause chaos on Nordic grids The Finnish nuclear power plant Olkiluoto was finally connected to the grid last year, at an estimated cost of €11 billion compared to the original budget of €3 billion. That cost blowout forced its developer, the […]
A vast subsea nuclear graveyard planned to hold Britain’s burgeoning piles of radioactive waste is set to become the biggest, longest-lasting and most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the UK. The project [UK's nuclear waste dump] is now predicted to take more than 150yrs to complete with lifetime costs of £66bn in today’s money...The […]
Last year, the Dutch Province of Limburg started an alliance in which, besides the local government, research institutes, small nuclear reactor (SMR) developers, utilities, industrial customers and funders cooperated. With this "Limburg SMR alliance" Limburg tried to lead the way towards an SMR in Limburg. The preferred site for a first SMR would be Chemelot, […]
