Posted on 04/29/2012 3:10:31 PM PDT by Razzz42
steam generators corrode...
Those radiators are brand new, been running less than two years, had a life expectancy of 30 or 40 years. Of course the original steam generators were expected to last the life of the nuke plant, that didn’t happen either.
If these leaks generated ‘letters of concern,’ they must not be very important, imho. I am so wary of Obama and his Thugs whupping up the masses in fear and hysteria about ... everything. Will investigate this thoroughly before I worry about it.
Like in Japan > 20,000 die in earthquake and subsequent Tsunami. No one died from Fukishima radiation exposures, No one is expected to die from fukishima exposures but that is all you hear about.
The Fukshima DISASTER!!!
Boy, are you misinformed.
Expect cancer rates and abnormalities to spike in Japan and elsewhere due to the fallout. Ionizing radiation is invisible so you are safe in allegations of zero deaths because it is so difficult to prove but tell that to some of the Fukushima workers and firemen families that respond to the disaster .
This guy is nuts and he of an organization of one.
Looks like you know how to read but can you comprehend?
Report: “High level radiation cloud” detected passing over New Zealand city — Peaks reached an “incredible” 1.89 microSv/h January 31, 2012
WSJ: “An eerie quietness” in Fukushima says top biologist — Bird population dropped twice as much as after Chernobyl — “Disturbing development” March 10, 2012
700 pCi/kg of Cesium-137 found in soil from base of Sierra Nevada mountains according to preliminary data April 20, 2011
Australian gov’t confirms radiation cloud over East Coast — Radiation spike 8 times normal reported — Concerns about Fukushima fallout January 13, 2012
From:
The plant is shutdown. It’s not unusual to get leaks in the tubes over time. During outages the tubes with leaks are plugged. That means the steam from the reactor has no access to the plugged tubes.
“The plant is shutdown. It’s not unusual to get leaks in the tubes over time. During outages the tubes with leaks are plugged. That means the steam from the reactor has no access to the plugged tubes.”
That was simple. Too bad they haven’t stated why the plumbing failed so early after being installed. They should have plugged a percentage of the tubes to begin with just to play it safe.
You and KPBS can go to hell!!!
nything KPBS puts on is pure communist crap!
Maybe you should have some understanding of the units you're talking about 1.89 microSv/h is less that 2/10ths of a millirem and this was a cloud? We would have to evacuate Denver or most of Colorado based on those numbers. The rest of your BS numbers are equally as silly. Stop hanging around anti-nuclear sites and look up and understand the science for yourself. The problem is that comprehension requires knowledge and you have none.
The locals are getting nervous with a nuke in their backyard. Wait until there are blackouts this summer because San Onofre Units 2 & 3 aren’t running, that will show those ratepayers whose boss.
Funny, usually KPBS (was government funded) would be supporting nuke power.
From http://carlsbad.patch.com/articles/san-onofre-sdge-nuclear-power
Some Nuclear Parts Shot; San Onofre Shutdown Costs Up to $1 Million a Day By Adam Townsend
February 4, 2012
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station spent hundreds of millions of dollars on new steam generators in the last couple years, and now some heat exchanger tubes are nearly worn out.
Crucial components that contain high-pressure, radioactive water at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station are, in many places, nearly too worn to function, said an Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman.
There is no danger to plant workers or the public because both reactors at the San Onofre station are shut down—one for maintenance and one because of a leak that started Tuesday.
But, the components are only one to two years old and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, raising troubling questions about their functioning.
The plant is producing no electricity. As crews are assessing and planning repairs to leaks at Unit 3 at the plant, the unplanned shutdown, an expert told KPBS, is costing Southern California Edison from $600,000 to $1 million per day.
Problems have been identified in the heat-exchanger tubes that boil water in the steam generators at the plant; there are two generators in each of the two reactors at the plant.
The high-pressure, superheated, radioactive water that runs through the tubes has started to wear through walls of the heat exchangers.
“They’ve looked at about 80 percent of the tubes in Unit 2,” said NRC spokesman Victor Dricks. “Two of the tubes have more than 30 percent wear and have to be plugged and taken out of service. Sixty-nine others have more than 20 percent wear. Over 800 others have less than 20 percent wear, but more than 10 percent.”
These aren’t the leaky tubes that caused the Tuesday shutdown of Unit 3 at the San Onofre plant, but the same component at Unit 3 has been isolated as the site of the leak.
Unit 2 has been shut down to replace the massive turbines and reactor head at the unit. The wear was detected as part of the routine inspection of equipment that technicians conduct before restarting the reactor, whether for a routine refueling outage or for refurbishments like the turbine replacement.
Public relations people at Mitsubishi, the manufacturer of the components in question, did not immediately return calls for comment Friday morning.
The damage raises questions about possible flaws in the multi-million-dollar, custom-made components, but there are dozens of factors that could be involved. Contractors installing the equipment, shipping personnel and plant staff all have roles to play in the installation and operation of the steam generators.
Mitsubishi representatives are on-site consulting as Southern California Edison crews investigate the damage.
“They (SCE) are talking with the manufacturer,” Dricks said. “It’s unusual. They’ll have to determine what caused it.”
The tubes are heat exchangers. The nuclear fuel rods super-heat water within a primary system. This water runs through these hundreds of tubes, set up like a car radiator, at a pressure of about 2,500 pounds-per-square-inch.
The heat boils water in a secondary system that makes steam to turn giant turbines. The electricity generated by San Onofre can power more than a million homes at any given time.
San Diego Gas & Electric owns a significant stake in the plant, but SCE is charged with maintaining and operating it.
From...
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/13/local/la-me-0413-san-onofre-20120413
Odd deterioration found in both San Onofre reactors
Energy officials had said tubes at San Onofre’s reactors were experiencing different types of wear. Now they say the unusually fast deterioration is occurring at both of the closed plant’s reactors.
April 13, 2012|By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times
Southern California Edison officials said that they are now seeing the same unusual type of wear on steam generator tubes at both of the San Onofre nuclear plant’s reactor units, which have been shuttered for months.
Officials found excessive wear in recent months on more than 300 tubes that were installed as part of the $671-million replacement of the plant’s four steam generators. The new steam generators, manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, were installed within the last two years, which made the rate of deterioration startling.
What was even more unusual was the type of wear. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials said the tubes in Unit 3 were vibrating excessively and rubbing against each other. Initially, they said that the wear at Unit 2 appeared to be different.
But in a statement Wednesday, Edison said that during its ongoing testing it had found additional wear in Unit 2 of a type that is “similar to the type of wear that was seen in Unit 3, but at a very low level.”....
Over rated hype!!!
I live within 15 miles of there and the only concern I have that they don’t restart it IMMEDIATLY!!!
Pay attention, that from a zero baseline starting point. You can say the spike is irrelevant but you can’t prove that it is. Were they testing or should they be testing for other fallout, like plutonium?
Here, you can downplay this finding too as some form of minor aberration along with all the other recent aberrations.
“Over rated hype!!!
I live within 15 miles of there and the only concern I have that they don’t restart it IMMEDIATLY!!!”
Why? What are you worried about?
“What are you worried about?”
That the enviro assholes will keep it shut down and assholes like you won’t move out of California!
Remember the rolling blackouts around May/June 2001? I’m buying a small UPS next weekend to keep my cell phone, wifi/LTE device and laptop functional as Summer approaches. Clairemont was pretty dark when we lost the line from AZ. My battery powered radios and phone were a lifeline for my co-workers and neighbors.
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