[Sviannouncements] Help by May 3/Sequoyah Nuclear permits are out of date!!!

[Sequatchie Valley Institute]

Forwarded from a favored friend, Chuck: 

Please consider joining the fight for a nuclear-free Tennessee Valley. 

Remember, it's tornado time, and we very nearly had a disaster during a previous season in which a Cat-5 twister narrowly missed Sequoyah's sister plant in Athens, AL.

Begin forwarded feelings:

> From: Charles White <conscious.lightbeing at gmail.com>
> Subject: Help by May 3/Sequoyah Nuclear permits are out of date!!!
> Date: April 29, 2013 2:53:44 PM EDT
> To: Sequatchie Valley Institute <officemanager at svionline.org>
> 
> Hey MOOnshadow Family!
>  
> Help us contest the reliscensing of the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant located in Soddy-Daisy, TN.
>  
> -Chuck
> SEND YOUR COMMENTS BY MAY 3, 2013
> We need to retire this old, dangerous nuclear plant and invest in energy efficiency and renewables. YOU CAN HELP!!!
> 
> ·       ONLINE:  http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2013–0037.  Click "Comment Now" to enter your comments.
> 
> ·       MAIL comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB–05–B01M,
> 
>               U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 0001.
> 
> ·       FAX comments:RADB at 301–492–3446
> 
> 
>  
> Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
> 
>  
> It is important that TVA retire the permits on Sequoyah 1 & 2. The permits are already 10 years past their original (recommended) termination dates. We require that all nuclear material be interred in casks and left on site. Monies must be used to develop safer means of energy harvesting.
> 
> These Ice Condenser Reactors are out of date and dangerous. By no means will MOX fuel be made at these Tennessee Plants that are so close to Chattanooga. We look forward to a decline in Leukemia rates after all the spent fuel is in casks.
> 
> Thank you for retiring the permits,
> 
>  
> Sign here:
> 
> Print Name:
> 
> Address:
> 
> Contact:
> 
>  
> Thanks to a Mr. Stewart Horn for some more info for use during comments:
> Issues to be Raised Re Sequoyah License Extension
> 
> 1. A major issue concerning the license extension for the Sequoyah facility is TVA’s recent citing by the NRC concerning the use of thousands of “Non-Compliant” replacement parts in TVA nuclear reactors during their lifetimes. “Non-compliant” replacement parts means that the parts don’t meet the rigorous operational, environmental, and safety requirements and regulations established by the NRC and it’s predecessors as necessary for use in nuclear reactors.
> 
> 2. A related issue of grave concern for these aged reactors is the fact that TVA was recently cited by the NRC for failure to perform many “Corrective Actions” that were identified in their corrective action programs. TVA identified the problems, but often failed to follow through and take the corrective actions necessary to solve the problems. TVA was cited by the NRC for having an insufficient “Safety Culture” pervasive throughout their management. These issues pose very serious safety concerns for extending the life of these aging nuclear reactors that are coming to the end of their design-to-lifetimes. Last year, there was a fire in the control room of a Brown’s Ferry reactor. The part that caught fire, was supposed to be replaced after 8 years. The part had been in place for something like 32 years, and should have been replaced four times before the fire occurred. This is a flaming example of why extending the life of these reactors 50% beyond their design-to-lifetime poses serious threats to the many people living dangerously close to the Sequoyah nuclear facility. This includes the city of Chattanooga whose downtown is only 12 miles downstream of Sequoyah.
> 
> 3. Another serious issue related to extending the life of these aging reactors is TVA’s poor operational track record over the life of TVA reactors. Brown’s Ferry Nuclear Facility had a very poor operational track record at all three of it’s boiling water reactors during the first 10 to 15 years of operation. There were a high number of Reportable Occurrences and what was considered at the time to be a very high number of SCRAMS (automatic shutdowns) of all three reactors. A noted nuclear expert recently stated that Brown’s Ferry Unit 1 had the worst operational track record of any nuclear reactor in the United States. The negative impact of SCRAMS is that the process cools the reactor far more quickly than occurs in a normal shutdown. This thermally shocks the reactor containment structure imposing much more severe internal stresses on it‘s structure than result from a normal planned reactor shutdown. These thermally induced severe stresses reportedly weaken the containment structure and cause “Premature Aging” of the structure. Thus, all three reactor containment structures at Browns Ferry may have been prematurely aged during their early use and may now be in a weakened state. We aren’t familiar with Sequoyah’s operational track record, but it is likely to be similar to Brown’s Ferry, because they both operate under the same management previously noted for it‘s insufficient safety culture. If they have poor performance records, their containment structure has experienced many SCRAMS and has potentially been prematurely aged and is in a weakened state as a result. Because Sequoyah is an ice-condenser design, it has a much weaker containment structure than do boiling water reactors, and is more likely to be severely impacted by excessive SCRAMS. TVA should reveal the number of SCRAMS that have occurred over the lifetimes of Sequoyah reactors. It is reported that each reactor was given a maximum number of SCRAMS that it could not operate beyond. The public deserves to know what the SCRAM limits are and how many SCRAMS have occurred at each Sequoyah reactor.
> 
> 4. A related issue is the fact that TVA has recently cut a giant hole in the containment structure to replace the steam generators and as a result may have weakened the already fragile containment structure of these ice-condenser reactors . It is unknown how severe the stresses were that traveled through-out the uncut part of the structure when the giant hole was cut. These could have greatly reduced the structure’s ability to maintain containment. Prior to extending the life by 50%, thorough detailed non-destructive testing should be completed on the whole containment structure to determine it’s ability to adequately contain the very dangerous radioactivity from humanity and the environment and operate safely for an extra 20 years.
>  
>  
> P.S. TVA will be required by the citizens of Tennessee to redirect the funds being taken from our electric bills into developing cleaner technology: sun come up solar, passive solar, insulation, smart grid, small wind, slow rivers. There are better ways to turn the wheel of energy generation. This generation will have it their way!
> 
> P.S.S. If anyone is interested in gaining standing TO FORMALLY PROTEST as a citizen within a 50 mile radius of the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant aka Chattanooga, please see attachment entitled "50-mile map Sequoyah" for more info. WE NEED YOU!!!
> 
>  
>  
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> 

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