Cybersecurity officials watched with growing alarm in September as Russian state hackers started prowling around dozens of American state and local government computer systems just two months before the election. The act itself did not worry them so much — officials anticipated that the Russians who interfered in the 2016 election would be back — but the actor did. The group, known to researchers as “Dragonfly” or “Energetic Bear” for its hackings of the energy sector, was not involved in 2016 election hacking. But it has in the past five years breached the power grid, water treatment facilities and even nuclear power plants, including one in Kansas.

New York Times 23rd Oct 2020 read more »

Concerns over proposed tritium discharges from Fukushima – why no apparent concern about the larger tritium releases from Hunterston B and Torness? Recent newspaper reports have expressed concern about the apparent decision by the Japanese Government and TEPCO to discharge large volumes of radioactive tritiated water from the stricken Fukukshima nuclear power station in Japan into the Pacific Ocean. I have expressed concern myself about this proposed decision -see here. Instead I recommend that TEPCO and the Japanese Government should build more storage tanks to allow for the decay of the radioactive tritium. Some readers have commented that all nuclear power stations world-wide discharge tritium into the sea (sometimes via rivers) and into the atmosphere. This is true and TEPCO used this fact to try to justify its proposed dumping of tritium into the sea. My reply was that two wrongs do not make a right: it is in fact quite worrying that all nuclear facilities routinely dump large volumes of tritium into the sea and the air. This applies to all UK nuclear power stations as well – including Hunterston B and Torness in Scotland. Recent reports have expressed concern about the restarts of the ancient dilapidated reactors at Hunterston B which are well past their sell-by dates. See here and here These fears largely centre on the risks of a nuclear accident at these old unsafe reactors. But shouldn’t we also be concerned about their tritium discharges? In 2018, annual tritium releases to the sea from Hunterston B were 148 terabecquerels (TBq) and the even more dangerous tritium emissions to the atmosphere totalled 0.96 TBq. The situation is similar at all other UK nuclear power stations. For example, at Torness, the tritium discharges in 2018 were 295 TBq into the sea and 1.32 TBq into the air. In most cases, these annual amounts are larger than the annual amounts being proposed to be released at Fukushima. So shouldn’t we be equally be concerned at these releases, as we are at the Japanese ones?

Ian Fairlie’s Blog 22nd Oct 2020 read more »

A project to look at hydrogen and carbon monoxide combustion risk management in the case of severe accidents at nuclear power plants has been launched. The EU-funded Horizon 2020 project, Accident Management of the Hydrogen/CO Combustion Risk (AMHYCO), started on 1 October, and will run for four years. Severe accidents at nuclear plants are costly and potentially dangerous to humans and the environment. Adequate accident management measures are “paramount” for preventing and/or mitigating the consequences of these accidents, says AMHYCO.

Chemical Engineer 22nd Oct 2020 read more »

Jacobs is to lead an international consortium whose research could extend the operational life of nuclear power plants around the world. The INCEFA-SCALE program (INcreasing safety in nuclear power plants by Covering gaps in Environmental Fatigue Assessment) aims to reduce uncertainties about how critical components will perform when subjected to the harsh conditions inside operational nuclear reactors.

The Engineer 14th Oct 2020 read more »

STATION bosses have welcomed a decision by nuclear regulators to allow reactor 4 of Hunterston B to be switched back on – after it was found it could still withstand an earthquake. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) say Reactor 4 at Hunterston B power station is safe to return to service for approximately six months. ONR’s assessment focussed on whether cracking observed in the graphite bricks that form the reactor core could compromise its fundamental nuclear safety requirements. They found unimpeded insertion of control rods and unimpeded movement of fuel; ensuring that gas flow will be maintained to ensure cooling; and that appropriate moderation (slowing neutrons to sustain the nuclear chain reaction) and thermal inertia (reducing the speed of temperature changes) are maintained.

Largs & Millport Weekly News 10th Oct 2020 read more »

Suffolk’s nuclear power plant has a new station director. Robert Gunn has been put in charge at Sizewell B following the promotion of Paul Morton to chief nuclear officer. Mr Gunn was with Torness power station in Scotland for 29 years where he was the station director before taking up the same post at the Leiston station in October 2020.

East Anglian Daily Times 7th Oct 2020 read more »