As the team determined its next step in its unfolding emergency, an employee made a seemingly sensible suggestion: try to cool the Reactor Building by opening a certain hatch to increase air flow. The person quickly realized his error: “That’s right, we have no power.” His realization came several hours into a tabletop exercise at...

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Utilities Service Alliance member DTE Energy filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 30 to renew the license for its Fermi 2 nuclear power plant. U.S. nuclear power plants were originally licensed for 40 years of operation. For Fermi 2, the original license ends in 2025. A successful license renewal process...

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Picture this in your plant: Improper fasteners holding together an air conditioning unit, a random drain hose leading to a floor drain or a pipe without the proper heat-resistant insulation and/or coatings. It shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine — these are some of the examples of unauthorized temporary modifications once found at plants in...

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In early February, Radiation Protection representatives from each of the Utilities Service Alliance fleet members gathered for a week-long work shop at DC Cook with a singular goal: developing a fleet-wide program to control and monitor alpha contamination. The effort that stems from EPRI’s revision to industry guidelines for alpha contamination; the industry has until...

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