Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Went 18 Months Without Functional Backup Cooling System!

[flamingdem]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q5iIj8hNVM

For those doubters out there.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. I feel bad, somehow, reccing this, but

people ought to know.

[flamingdem]

3. I'm posting this for WTMUSIC who wanted links

so there it is... now I'll look for the one about San Onofre.

[wtmusic]

12. Do you ever actually read/watch/listen to any references you post?

In your frothy excitement at discovering this smokeless gun, I guess you missed the part about "Operators have procedures in place to operate these valves manually" - i.e., a completely functional backup system. Or maybe you chose to ignore it, or hope no one would notice.

And it was probably just a mistake that you extended to the entire plant a condition which existed at only one of its reactors.

Whatever, you've been pwned. Try a little harder next time. :eyes:

[flamingdem]

2. CA nuke plant’s emergency cooling system failure went unnoticed

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/ca-nuke-plants-emergency-cooling-system-failure-went-unnoticed/5292

A California nuclear reactor that borders multiple fault lines - and the Pacific Ocean - did not have a functional emergency pumping system for 18 months, according to reports.

The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant has sat perched atop a cliff at Avila Beach in California’s San Luis Obispo county since its completion in 1973. The plant is located within a stone’s throw of the Shoreline Fault and in the vicinity of the San Andreas Fault.

Aside from its unfortunate geography, Diablo Canyon’s pastoral surroundings have masked another hidden danger: human error. Engineers accidentally disabled a vital back-up cooling system that prevents the reactor from overheating.

The plant is operated by Pacific Gas & Electric, which recently requested that the California Public Utilities Commission for a 20-year extension to the plant’s lifecycle. The request has been postponed in light of the Fukushima Daiichi facility’s nuclear emergency in Japan.

[flamingdem]

4. "Yellow" violation at San Onofre Nuke Plant

http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/05/06/san-onofre-system-could-have-failed-during-quake/82351/

[flamingdem]

5. 'Culture of cover-up': Whistleblower suit filed against Calif. nuclear plant

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42354473/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/culture-cover-up-whistleblower-suit-filed-against-calif-nuclear-plant/

SAN DIEGO — A former manager at one of California's two nuclear power stations sued the facility's operators on Wednesday, claiming he was fired in retaliation for reporting safety concerns at the plant.

The suit against Southern California Edison, principal owner of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, comes a year after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rebuked the company for what the government called a "chilling effect" on the airing of safety concerns by employees.

In a March 2010 letter cited in the lawsuit and provided to reporters by lawyers for the plaintiff, Paul Diaz, 35, the NRC ordered Edison to address a workplace climate in which workers feared retribution for reporting safety issues.

According to the lawsuit, the NRC inquiry and letter were prompted by anonymous calls and e-mails from plant "insiders" raising concerns about "shortcuts on testing new generators, unreported safety violations, falsifying records and promoting a culture of cover-up."

The lawsuit also cited problems with chronic fatigue among workers caused by lengthy shifts and heavy overtime demands.

[flamingdem]

6. SAN ONOFRE: Reactor temporarily shut down after backup generators fail to start

Plant operators had to temporarily shut down one of San Onofre Generating Station's two reactors over the weekend after an emergency generator failed a routine test.

Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, San Onofre's majority owner, said Monday that the plant's Unit 3 reactor was taken off-line at 2 a.m. Saturday when the back-up generators failed to start. A second generator could not be used because it was being repaired.


Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/article_87f165d6-33ec-57d6-bd01-03e292887b94.html#ixzz1XZpEL3CN

[Cleita]

7. I live downwind from Diablo.

There is an effort to decommission it and I hope saner minds do prevail and it happens. The downside of it is that some of the biggest cheerleaders for decommissioning are oil people who are dying to do offshore drilling and this will give them an opening to push for lifting the ban on the drilling.

[flamingdem]

8. figures!

I did hear about a republican who is looking into safety issues, can't remember his name, one in a million!

[Cleita]

10. Sam Blakeslee, who is my state senator and with

strong ties to the oil industry.

http://www.kintera.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=jrLZK2PyHmF&b=1846057&ct=8452161

[wtmusic]

13. Nice to know you trust Republicans with safety issues, but...

ya think he might be looking into them because it's profitable for him?

That the fossil industry devotes significant resources to fanning the flames of nuke hysteria? Creates issues where there are none?

Sorry to be so obvious about dot-connecting, but you seem utterly incapable.

[bananas]

14. We don't use oil for electricity, so shutting Diablo won't affect offshore drilling

Nuclear power plants only generate electricity,
we don't burn oil for electricity,
so shutting Diablo won't have any effect on offshore drilling.

[Cleita]

15. Yes, we do. Electrical generating plants can be fueled with

oil as well as coal. It doesn't matter though if it's actually used for that purpose. What will happen is that the oil people will use it as an excuse to get the local governments to approve off shore drilling. They are already starting to put the pressure on here on the Central Coast.

[madokie]

9. And its setting on one fault line and near another

What me worry, you fucking A I worry, we all should be. How many people would be affected by the fallout if this thing was hit by a big earthquake? I'm thinking it would be more than the 2.2 million it provides power for

Shut the bastids down, we will be fine. Only about 18 maybe 19 percent of our electric comes from nukes and we don't have any of our manufacturing left so we should be able to take up the slack in the mean time as we build out solar and wind. Its not a matter of if it can be done its a matter of Will it be done.

[Hydra]

11. *Shivers*

We're sitting among time bombs. Anyone who thinks differently isn't looking at reality.

Nuclear power isn't cheap enough not to meter...it's the most expensive extinction event in a bottle I've ever seen.