Platts - Tuesday, October 28, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--27Oct2003 Guard left Millstone-2 equipment hatch unattended An equipment hatch at Millstone-2 was left unattended for approximately 10 minutes Oct. 24, leaving the plant vulnerable to unauthorized access to a controlled access area, plant spokesman Karl Neddenien told Platts Oct. 27. He said that a guard left his post at the end of his shift prior to his relief arriving. He said the relief guard was running late. Neddenien said plant officials confirmed that no unauthorized access resulted, and the guards have been "counseled" on the importance of remaining at the post. ------------ London (Nuclear News Flashes)--27Oct2003 Sellafield workers vote to strike Sellafield workers voted to take strike action after they failed to reach agreement with British Nuclear Fuels pls (BNFL), owner of the reprocessing complex, on pay equalization in the timeframe they expected. Around 2,500 blue-collar workers, organized by the General Municipal & Boilermakers (GMB) union and Amicus, are involved, with GMB representing more than half. Sellafield has 11,500 workers, of whom 2,500 work for contractors and 1,500 are agency and temporary workers. The pay dispute has gone on for four years. Workers at other BNFL sites have agreed to a financial proposal negotiated with BNFL by the unions at the national level, but those at Sellafield have rejected it. The Sellafield unions meet in Manchester Oct. 28 to discuss next steps. The law requires the unions to notify BNFL a week before they start industrial action. In addition to pay, the workers are reportedly anxious about upcoming changes as the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority takes over the site in April 2005. BNFL said it has a long-standing agreement with the unions which guarantees safety regardless of any labor action. ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--24Oct2003 Missing fuel rod found at Westinghouse plant Westinghouse found a fuel rod that was missing at its Columbia, S.C. fuel fabrication facility. Westinghouse Electric Co. notified NRC Oct. 22 that it had found the rod, which contains 85 grams of U-235, "under a fuel rod handling conveyor in a position that was not readily visible to individuals performing search activities." In the notification, which appeared Oct. 24 in NRC's daily events report, the company said, "[T]he cause of how the rod came to be in the location it was found is currently being investigated." Westinghouse had notified NRC Oct. 21 of the rod's disappearance. The company said at the time that the last recorded observation of the rod was as it was being "seal welded in the chemical area after having been loaded with fuel pellets." ------------ London (Nuclear News Flashes)--24Oct2003 Pipe weld anomalies discovered at Sizewell B British Energy (BE) found "anomalies" on two welds during inspection of Sizewell B's turbine steam system but said it would not be able to confirm if the "unusual indications" were cracks until next week, after further investigation. Sizewell B started its sixth refueling and maintenance outage Oct. 4 and has been undergoing a series of inspections of its primary and secondary systems, with some 180 welds checked. A British BE source told Platts Oct. 24 that an ultrasonic test had indicated anomalies in the main pipework between a steam generator and a turbine but other tests had not uncovered anything unusual. If a crack were to be confirmed, he said, there could be two alternatives, either a repair in situ, or removal of the suspect material and its replacement. Depending on the severity, the work could take from two to 10 weeks. If no repair is necessary, "the plant could be back (in service) within three weeks," BE said in a stock exchange announcement Oct. 23. ------------