Salem Unit 2 nuclear reactor shuts down after cooling pump failure

[nonperson]

Source: NJ Star-Ledger

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP. — The Salem Unit 2 nuclear plant remained shut down this afternoon following a problem with a reactor coolant pump, according to a spokesman for the plant’s operator.

Salem 2 automatically went offline Sunday at 6:01 p.m. when the coolant pump tripped, said Joe Delmar, spokesman for PSEG Nuclear.

When the pump shut down, the auxiliary pump system automatically started to provide water to cool the reactor.

The cause of the pump failure is still being investigated, according to Delmar. The plant functioned as designed, he said.

The plant remained in “hot shutdown” mode this afternoon.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/06/sakem_unit_2_nuclear_reactor_s.html

---

Salem Creek has had several problems already this Spring with "river grassing" that caused loss of cooling and shut downs.

http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/04/salem_1_nuclear_reactor_shut_d_1.html

Salem 1 nuclear reactor shut down because of problems with river 'grassing'

Published: Friday, April 22, 2011, 2:15 PM Updated: Friday, April 22, 2011, 2:27 PM
By Bill Gallo Jr./Today's Sunbeam

http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/04/salem_1_reactor_taken_offline.html

Salem 1 nuclear reactor taken offline again because of Delaware River 'grassing' clogging cooling water intake

Published: Monday, April 25, 2011, 7:48 PM Updated: Monday, April 25, 2011, 8:40 PM
By Bill Gallo Jr./Today's Sunbeam

http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/05/grassing_causes_shutdown_of_sa.html

'Grassing' causes shutdown of Salem 1 nuclear reactor for third time in two weeks

Published: Monday, May 02, 2011, 6:40 PM Updated: Monday, May 02, 2011, 6:59 PM
By Bill Gallo Jr./Today's Sunbeam

I trust the nuclear industry about as far as I can throw them. I would not be surprised if there is more afoot here with these continual cooling problems and shut downs at Salem Creek than we're being told.

Nuclear power plants, unsafe under any circumstances even when new, are showing their age and the government is extending the life of these plants that were supposed to be decommissioned after forty years for an additional twenty years!

STOP NUCLEAR POWER NOW!

[wtmusic]

1. Safety systems working as designed.

z-z-z

[nonperson]

2. Yep. FOUR TIMES IN THREE MONTHS

A nuclear plant that loses the capacity to cool reactors and spent fuel pools four times in three months.

Yep. That's what the nuclear industry refers to as "safety".

Fukushima anyone?

[wtmusic]

8. Um, it didn't lose its capacity to cool reactors.

That's what safety systems are for. Hello?

[nonperson]

13. They had to go into a state of hot shutdown

Did you read anything I posted or are you just copying your standard replies? Because they had to shut down the reactor three times because they couldn't cool it due to "river grassing".

Now let me ask you this since you're a nuke expert and expert nuke apologist, if a billion dollar nuke plant can't withstand the effects of RIVER GRASS then what the fuck are we doing building them in the first place? And when the sinister "river grass" stops that billion dollar plant for operating forcing it to shut down how far are we away from the time when the "safety" mechanisms don't work? And what do we have then?

Jerseyshima?

[wtmusic]

21. The river grass didn't shut down a billion dollar plant.

It stopped one reactor temporarily. "Jerseyshima", heh. You continue to embarrass yourself with your ignorant posts.

Sometimes birds fly into airplane engines. The airplane engine is (sometimes) then shut down, and the plane is forced to land.

Birdstrikes have resulted in 200 deaths since 1988 in the US, exactly 200 more than then number of deaths attributable to nuclear power.

Why don't you whine about that for a while?

[kirby]

15. You must not be an engineer...

Accidents happen due to multiple failures.

If a safety system is tripping frequently, it greatly increases the odds that if the secondary system fails, there will be a problem.

If the event is rarely supposed to happen and when it happens, people dismiss it as 'working as designed', we start to have problems.

[nonperson]

16. I'm not an engineer

But according to your post:

"If a safety system is tripping frequently, it greatly increases the odds that if the secondary system fails, there will be a problem."

Salem has been shut down for cooling problems, as I've already mentioned, FOUR TIMES IN THREE MONTHS.

Tripping frequently. Greatly increased odds there will be a problem.

End nuclear energy now before we have a problem.

[Melinda]

18. kirby was responding to post 8, not to you. You & kirby agree. eom

[CreekDog]

20. how much redundancy do you have left when you're on your backup system?

less than when things are working properly?

[AndyTiedye]

4. How Would We Know if the Safety Systems are Working?

They always say that, even when they're not.

[wtmusic]

9. We wouldn't.

There are any number of awful things which could be happening right now...the mad nuke scientists could be breeding huge spiders to come and eat you at night.

(they're not, j/k)

[bread_and_roses]

17. And since when can we trust "a spokesman for the plant's operator?"

What a trusting soul you are. I guess Massey energy was also honest about its mine safety, BP about how much oil was leaking into the gulf, etc etc etc?

I guess we can trust Vermont Yankee too?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/29-1

Vermont Yankee: Entergy, owner of the one reactor in Vermont, has sued to shred a solemn public contract.

The one thing certain here is the company’s contempt for the sanctity of its own word.

Years ago Entergy sought official permits at VY. It promised in return that the state could choose to shut the reactor on March 21, 2012, which it’s now done.

In recent years VY has spewed tritium into groundwater and the Connecticut River, in some cases from underground pipes whose existence the company denied.

(my emphasis added)

[wtmusic]

22. Can you give me a reputable link for tritium being found in groundwater

and the Connecticut River? I didn't think so.

Ha, "Common Dreams". What a trusting soul you are.

[bread_and_roses]

23. Yes - and admissions of "mislead"[ing] about pipes

http://www.gazettenet.com/2011/06/21/vt-reactor-continues-tritium-cleanup

... admissions by the plant that it misled Vermont regulators and lawmakers about whether the plant had the kind of underground piping that carries radioactive material.

http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/02/10/vt-radioactive-tritium-reaching-conn-river

Dr. Wendy Davis, commissioner of the state Department of Health, told The Associated Press that the volume and direction of flow of tritium-tainted groundwater leads to the conclusion that it's reaching the river.

... But they also said it was diluted by uncontaminated river water, so that lab instruments were not detecting it in samples of river water.

Davis said Tuesday that continued to be the case because of the river's rapid, heavy flow.

... Vermont Yankee spokesman Robert Williams said plant officials agreed with Davis' assessment that tritium is reaching the river.

Your question does not address the salient point in my post, which is that the company "mislead" about the pipes. Hardly the first time we've seen "misleading" from the energy companies - not to mention Big Agra, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, Big Banks, etc etc etc. It's SOP under capitalism. Yet you refer to the remarks of a "company spokesperson" as if there was ANY reason to believe one word out of them until and unless it is verified by a TOTALLY INDEPENDENT body - ie, not the NRC, unfortunately.

[wtmusic]

24. Read carefully.

No elevated levels of tritium were found in groundwater offsite. No elevated levels or tritium were found in the Connecticut River. None.

Vermonters are exposed every day to thousands of times more radiation from atomic testing, and this is much ado about nothing.

[bread_and_roses]

25. Yes, OBVIOUSLY I read that and included it for accuracy - you continue to miss the point

of my post, which was your reliance on a "company spokesperson." I am 60 years old. Do you have ANY notion how many times over these years I've heard "no discernible risk" only to find out later that, oh, sorry, yes indeed...

There are examples both from my home town, from where I live now, from all over the US, from every country on earth of same. Right now we are listening to the hydrofracking industry tell us "no discernible harm." What do you think the odds are that we'll hear a different story in a few years?

And that is my last post on the matter.

[wtmusic]

26. You can't make sense if you don't have your facts straight.

Who said I'm relying on the spokesman? He lied and he was busted. It was completely inexcusable. But I also completely understand why he did it - people who have no understanding of tritium and who consider CommonDreams.org the last word on radiation would take this non-issue and blow it way out of proportion (they did).

Here's the NRC's position on it, which confirms what Vermont Yankee had to say:

NRC Calls Vermont Yankee Tritium Leak 'Minor'

Friday, 10/15/10 6:06am

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is faulting the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant for poor housekeeping in the 1970s and inadequate checking of underground pipes.

The NRC issued an inspection report on Wednesday calling recent leaks of tritium at the Vernon reactor minor. The report also says the leaks posed no threat to public health and safety.

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/89026/

[CreekDog]

19. what's the backup if this one fails?

:shrug:

[plumbob]

3. Yes, end it now. It's the filthiest, riskiest, most dangerous method

to boil water ever invented.

Never mind the eternal waste.

But as long as the government subsidizes this parasitic industry, they will hang on.

Welfare atomic kings/queens.

[Blue Hen Buckeye]

5. That is scary, if the place ever blows up I can kiss my butt

goodbye, I live just accross the Delaware river in Delaware.

[nonperson]

7. We're all in deep trouble if any of the several nuke plants around us go critical

I'm in Central Jersey and we have 5 nuke plants within 70 miles of us and 3 within 50 miles.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Thegonagle]

27. Just to clarify your terminology, "going critical" is the normal process of starting a reaction

in preparation for generation. So "going critical" is something they do all the time.

Might as well stick to the ever-descriptive terms (to a non-expert) of "going Three Mile Island," "going Chernobyl," and "going Fukushima." You know, the Big Three! ;)

[femrap]

6. And our infrastructure declines

while our military increases its battles.

[Champion Jack]

11. YEEEE HAAWWWW!!!!

Amurika! Fuck yeah!

[nonperson]

14. More on Salem, the second largest commercial nuke complex in the USA

And the 20 year extension granted to these dangerous, aging death plants.

http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/06/20-year_license_extension_for.html

20-year license extension for Salem 1 and 2 nuclear reactors recommended by federal review panel

Published: Saturday, June 04, 2011, 1:45 AM
By Bill Gallo Jr./Today's Sunbeam

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP. — A key federal advisory panel has recommended that the operating licenses for the Salem 1 and 2 nuclear reactors here be extended for 20 years.

The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), an independent body of experts that advises the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on nuclear safety matters, said it backed the extensions after a thorough review made by the plants’ operator, PSEG Nuclear.

Salem 1 and 2 are two of three reactors operated by PSEG Nuclear here at its Artificial Island generating complex on Artificial Island here. The complex is the second largest commercial nuclear generating complex in the United States.

So they backed the 20 year extension for the second largest commercial nuclear generating complex in the USA located in the most densely populated state in the USA based on a PSEG review?

Wow, I'll bet PSEG really considered NOT passing their own review!
:sarcasm: