During refuelling outage on 04/05/2009, Self Powered Neutron Detector (SPND) was transported from the reactor into the high activity waste storage pit according to a work program. During transfer, the (wire rope) cable holding the grab, which moves inside the SPND chain remover tube-shaped container, broke when the crane was moving laterally. The detector and its grab fell down onto the working area covered with protective clingfilm through the transfer path. Due to falling the 4 m long detector tube became bent and tilted onto the decontamination tank of control rods drivers. No damage of other equipment occurred. The event resulted in increased radiation in the reactor hall. All activities in the reactor hall were suspended, personnel were evacuated and the reactor hall was reclassified to non-accessible area. The workers in the reactor hall were not exposed to radiation over the daily screening level. The dose rate measured at 1 meter from the SPND tube exceeded 50 mSv/h. The area was secured, i.e. cordoned off and warning signs were posted. After the event a special maintenance meeting was summoned and the steps of emergency operation were determined.
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, […]
