And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] April 6, 1999 TROJAN GETS CLOSE TO STORING FUEL RODS After resolving concerns about storage cask safety, Portland General Electric seeks approval for a key step in decommissioning by Brent Hunsberger of the Oregonian staff With concerns about a vaultmaker's faulty work record apparently eased, federal & state nuclear regulators are poised to approve a temporary storage system for radioactive spent fuel from the Trojan Nuclear Plant. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week approved Portland General Electric's plan to place 781 fuel assemblies in large dry storage casks at the Trojan plant near Rainier, 40 miles northwest of Portland. On Wednesday, the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council is expected to sign off on the license as well. The license is a significant step for PGE's plans to decommission the plant, which closed in 1993. Its approval had been delayed for more than a year while regulators investigated the company that built the casks, Sierra Nuclear Corp. of Scotts Valley, CA. Between 1995 and 1997, nuclear facilities in Arkansas and Michigan discovered cracks in the welds of Sierra Nuclear's VSC-24 casks. One was a large as 18 inches. In another case in Wisconsin, a VSC-24 cask loaded with spent fuel exploded, warping its 6,400 pound lid. Federal regulators later determined that the cask's lining helped ignite the blast. PGE is using a different Sierra Nuclear cask system, called TranStor, to store its spent fuel at Trojan. But TranStore bore enough similarities to the VSC-24 to postpone PGE's license. At one point, federal regulators even threatened to ban the company from building waste storage casks. But in April 1998, the US subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels Plc, a powerful waste management company, bought Sierra Nuclear for an undisclosed amount. Inspectors from PGE and state and federal agencies now say its new owners have adequately addressed deficiencies. "I was assured at least they've got that pretty much under control," said Russell Dorran, a member of Oregon's siting council. The council, which discussed the matter last week at a meeting, is scheduled to vote on the license during a Wednesday conference call. Currently, PGE stores the rod assemblies, which will remain dangerously radioactive for several centuries, underwater in a spent fuel pool at the Trojan site. According to state records, federal officials, citing a reorganization by the British buyer, determined in August that Sierra Nuclear had taken "appropriate actions" to resolve its deficiencies. Federal Inspections also found that the company had followed through on plans to fix cask defects at nuclear facilities in Arkansas and Wisconsin. In January, Oregon Office of Energy officials visited ABB Combustion Engineering Nuclear Systems, the New Hampshire subcontractor that built the TranStor baskets for Sierra Nuclear. Regulators found ABB's quality controls "thorough." PGE officials insist that the yearlong licensing delay won't result in increases for ratepayers. PGE customers pay $14 million annually to decommission Trojan. The utility could begin the yearlong process of moving the spent fuel assemblies into the storage casks by early next month. Through PGE's plan, the rods will be moved to 36 TranStor casks--concrete-encased steel buckets that stand about 15 feet tall--and stored nearby on a large cement deck. They could be there for years. The US lacks a certified nuclear waste repository. But the nuclear industry is pushing legislation through Congress that would revise the nation's Nuclear Waste Policy Act and mandate waste shipments from facilities such as Trojan to a yet unbuilt facility in Yucca Mountain, Nev., by 2003. Environmental groups and the state of Nevada oppose the bills. Overall, Trojan's decommissioning will coust $435 million, PGE spokesman Kregg Arntson said. That estimate has risen by more than 11 percent in recent years, mostly because of the utility's problems with Sierra Nuclear. Last year, PGE estimated that the costs for moving the fuel assemblies would increase from $36 million to $56 million. Arnston said PGE hopes to cover the increase by saving money in other areas of the decommisssioning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tired of empty chat rooms and out of date bulletin boards? http://www.ONElist.com ONElist: Making the Internet Intimate ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOEWatch List --- Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/doewatch"We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesized in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we think we have found the way to cause the disintegration of the atom." -Quote from Truman's diary July 25, 45 after Pottsdam and the "baby was born"""The Doctor of the future will give No Medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."."-Attributed to Thomas Alva Edisonn"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"t"-George Orwell &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
