Nuclear Power Industry News

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

Japan agreed with Kuwait on Wednesday to cooperate in capacity building for peaceful use of nuclear energy generation.

This move raises the prospect of lucrative deals for Japanese companies.  

Kuwait, the world's No 4 oil exporter, is facing rising energy demand and agreed with France in April on cooperation in developing nuclear energy.

Japan, the world's third-biggest nuclear power generator after the United States and France, is stepping up efforts to tap the nuclear power development market after a Japan-US consortium lost out to South Korea in a deal to build and operate nuclear reactors for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December.  

Japan has not yet won a project-based package like the UAE deal in the nuclear energy sector.  

Developing and operating nuclear power plants abroad is a growth strategy in Japan, where electricity demand is expected to stay flat or rise slightly at best due to industries shifting abroad and the graying of society.

In July, a consortium of six Japanese utilities and nuclear power machinery makers set up a working group to create a venture this autumn aimed at winning orders to build nuclear power plants overseas.

Japan made a similar government-to-government agreement with Malaysia earlier this month. The accord with Kuwait on sharing know-how on public acceptance and other expertise brings the total number of such deals since 2007 to 10, including those with Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Vietnam, UAE and Jordan.

An official at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said Kuwait has been slow to come up with detailed plans on nuclear power generation.

'Unlike Vietnam and Jordan, where selection of projects is about to start, there are few details available from Kuwait on its plans such as when, where and how many reactors they need,' the METI official said.

- Edited By Chris Reed -

The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday Dave Moody is taking over the Savannah River Site's operations office as site manager.

As manager, Moody will lead efforts at SRS to remove and process radioactive liquid waste  stored in underground tanks; consolidate and process nuclear materials such as plutonium and spent nuclear fuel; make progress towards the disposition of solid radioactive legacy waste; and achieve industrial footprint reduction of 67 percent by the end of 2011 through the use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

Moody has worked with DOE in New Mexico and served as a technical advisor at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Rocky Flats for over 30 years. He replaces Jack Craig, who is returning to his job with DOE in Cincinnati.

Savannah River opened near the Georgia-South Carolina line in the early 1950s and once produced plutonium and tritium for atomic bombs. Now, work there is focused mostly on research, MOX production, and environmental cleanup.

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

Westinghouse Electric Company today announced that its Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Service Center office building at its Chattanooga, Tenn., (USA), campus has achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. It promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

The Westinghouse U.S. BWR Service Center is a training facility for BWR Reactor Services and offers a WEC Welding Institute, as well as engineering services. Approximately 130 Nuclear Services employees and contractors are located on the campus.

Kate Jackson, Westinghouse Research and Technology senior vice president and chief technology officer, as well as its environmental and sustainability champion, said the certification is consistent with the company's commitment to provide the world with clean, safe and reliable nuclear energy. 

"Nuclear energy is a clean, safe energy source that is already helping vast regions of the globe to decrease dependence on fossil fuels," she said.  "We complement our position as a world leader in the supply of clean energy by including environmental considerations in the decisions we make every day. The certification of our Chattanooga facility is another demonstration of our commitment to the health and well-being of both current and future generations, and I congratulate both the team and the facility for their efforts in creating an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and sustainable workplace."

Michael Faidley, facilities manager for the Westinghouse Nuclear Services product line and leader of the certification effort said: "Sustainable design played a major part in our team's efforts in achieving Silver certified status."

Noteworthy features of the building's sustainable design include:

• A storm water management control system (achieved using local building materials), in which the water quality coming out of the storm water collection area is enhanced before being released back into the environment.
• The addition of bike racks and changing rooms to accommodate alternate transportation to the work place.
• A building design which allows 90 percent daylight views to all building occupants.

Westinghouse's new headquarters facility located in Cranberry Township, Pa. (USA), is also expected to achieve LEED certified status.

- Edited By Chris Reed -

Dutch provinces will evaluate a plan with the Dutch government for the construction of a new nuclear power plant, sparking a head-to-head battle with utility Delta which has similar plans, a Dutch daily reported.

Delta, which owns half of the sole Dutch operating nuclear power plant Borssele, evaluated in June 2009 initially plans to build a second nuclear plant with four times the capacity of the first. It is looking for a partner to help develop the project.

But six Dutch provinces and various city councils which sold their stake in Dutch utility Essent to Germany's RWE in 2009 will also lodge a plan for the construction of a new plant, newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the province North Brabant, which was the largest shareholder in Essent, confirmed the report.

The application will be evaluated with the Dutch Spatial Planning and Environment Ministry on Tuesday by Energy Resources Holding, a company set up by the provinces, the paper reported.

The submission will detail plans to construct a nuclear power plant with a maximum capacity of 2,500 megawatts.

Dutch authorities have phased out all nuclear power stations except for Borssele, due to stay operational until 2033, but have not ruled out the construction of a new plant. Current Dutch policy on nuclear new build remains uncertain with the government putting off a decision on its formal stance until at least 2011.

RWE suffered a blow in March to its legal battle to claim a 50 percent stake in Borssele -- which has a capacity of 512 megawatts -- as an appeals court upheld a ruling that it must stay in public hands.

Delta and Essent jointly operated the Borssele nuclear power plant, but Essent said in September that RWE had agreed to pay 950 million euros less for the acquisition to exclude the plant.

- Edited By Chris Reed -

Westinghouse Electric Company announced on Friday the appointment of Tom Geer as vice president, Fuel Engineering, for the company's Nuclear Fuel business.  

In this role, he will be responsible for overseeing Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) and Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) fuel hardware design, development and testing, as well as the technology development functions supporting nuclear physics, thermal hydraulic and fuel performance methods for PWR and BWR fuel and reload core designs.  He will be located inCranberry Township, Pennsylvania (USA).

Mr. Geer joins Westinghouse from Duke Energy, where he was vice president of Nuclear Engineering.  He has more than 28 years of management and engineering experience. While at Duke, he was a member of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Fuel Reliability Program Executive Committee and the Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) Turkey Point corporate nuclear review board, chaired the Texas A&M Nuclear Engineering Advisory Council, and served on the University of Tennessee Nuclear Engineering Department advisory board.

He also spent eight years supporting the prime contractor on two different U.S. Department of Energy projects while at Duke Engineering. He holds both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University.  He is a certified Professional Engineer in North Carolina and South Carolina.

- Edited By Chris Reed -

According to Platts, the Nuclear Energy Institute filed a petition on Friday with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking to relax rules on work hours it said have hurt employee morale and curbed beneficial policies. 

The Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents US nuclear utilities, submitted a petition for rulemaking to NRC Friday in which it said the agency's 2008 overhaul of work rules to prevent fatigue needed to be changed (10CFR26.205).

The 2008 rules have curtailed some beneficial safety practices and affected quality of life for workers by restricting flexibility in scheduling, NEI said in the petition. Over 1,000 union grievances have been filed because of the rules, as they conflict with labor contracts, NEI said. 

In meetings with NRC at plant sites, "work hours is usually at the top of the list as an issue of concern," said Tony Pietrangelo, vice president of NEI, in an interview Friday. "Nobody wants unintended consequences that are detrimental to safety." 

NEI asked that NRC replace what it says is an overly complicated system of hour and days-off limits with a system that requires an average of no more than 54 hours a week, checked quarterly. The 54-hour limit would be a "performance standard" on which nuclear plants would be evaluated by NRC, NEI said. The 54-hour goal would not apply during maintenance and refueling outages, the group said. 

The proposed NEI revision would retain existing requirements that nuclear plant employees not work more than 16 hours in a 24-hour period or 72 hours in any seven-day period. 

An NRC spokesman was not immediately available for comment. If accepted for review, the petition will be published in the Federal Register for comment and commissioners will decide whether to adopt it. 

NEI plans to seek immediate interim relief from the existing work rules in a separate filing, Pietrangelo said.

"Jordan and Japan will sign a nuclear cooperation agreement in Amman on Friday," said the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

According to Bloomberg, Jordan will sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with Japan this week, paving the way for Areva SA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to sell reactors to the Middle East country.

"Jordan and Japan will sign a nuclear cooperation agreement in Amman on Friday," the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission said in an e-mailed statement today.

Jordan is due to sign two more similar agreements with Romania and the Czech Republic this year and hopes to reach one with the U.S. soon after, the commission's Chairman Khalid Touqan said in an interview Aug. 2.

The kingdom, which is mostly covered by desert and relies almost entirely on imports for its energy needs, is turning to nuclear power to meet increasing electricity demand. The country plans to build reactors by 2019 and has signed agreements with eight countries including Russia, China, France and the U.K.

Jordan will select the supplier of its first nuclear reactor by April from among three designs, Touqan said.

The commission and Worley Parsons, Australia's biggest engineering company, will hold talks until then with the pre- selected groups of Canadian, French, Japanese and Russian bidders, he said.

The commission preselected three reactor technologies on May 12: Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.'s Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6), Russia's Atomstroyexport ZAO's AES-92 VVER-1000 and "ATMEA1," proposed by Paris-based Atmea, a 50-50 joint venture between France's Areva SA and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

Areva, the world's largest maker of reactors, signed agreements with Jordan this year for the protection of the planned nuclear installations and the exploration and mining of uranium in the kingdom.

Jordan estimates it has 65,000 tons of uranium deposits and expects annual production of 2,000 tons.

 - Edited By Chris Reed -

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday that nuclear energy is the only alternative to traditional energy sources.

The global gas market has been recovering from the recent economic downturn, but demand for energy sources will soar over the next few years, Putin told a meeting with the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The premier cited the current energy crisis in the United States, where, he said, "the situation with shale gas... is very difficult."

"You couldn't transfer large electric power stations to wind energy, however much you wanted to. In the next few decades, it will be impossible," Putin said, adding that consumption patterns would only undergo minor changes.

He said the only "real and powerful alternative" to oil and gas is nuclear energy. He rejected other approaches as "claptrap."

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Nebraska Senator Kent Rogert supports a third nuclear power plant in his state. The possibility of a third plant in Nebraska will be discussed at a public hearing Sept. 17 in Blair.

Senator Rogert is the primary sponsor of LR465, which would study the benefits of building a nuclear power plant next to Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, owned by the Omaha Public Power District.

Fort Calhoun, population 904, is about 20 miles north of Omaha along the Missouri River.

The pros and cons of nuclear power and what another plant would mean to the state's economy in terms of new jobs and a long-term source of sustainable energy will be presented at the hearing, Rogert said.

Fort Calhoun is one of two nuclear plants in Nebraska. The other is Cooper Nuclear Station south of Brownville, owned by the Nebraska Public Power District.

Rogert estimates between 2,500 and 3,500 "nice paying" jobs would be created during construction. Another 500 to 700 would be employed at the power plant once it is operating.

Construction would take about five to six years and cost between $6 billion and $10 billion, Rogert said.

The senator said he has discussed the issue with OPPD officials "and they are on board with me."

"OPPD is supportive of the concept of nuclear power and believes it provides safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity and will continue to play an important role in Nebraska generation for many years," said OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson in an e-mail.

He said a "baseload" nuclear power plant is not in the utility's plans, which span 15 years. OPPD could not afford to build a power plant by itself because of the cost "and would have to explore partnerships if such a plant became necessary."

"The nuclear industry currently is in the process of designing small, more affordable generating stations. We are interested in the progress in that area," Hanson said.

You can read more here in the Journal Star here; http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/article_27eb5adc-b94d-11df-ac6d-001cc4c03286.html

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

German utility E.ON AG has welcomed, in principle, the compromise reached on an extension of the operating licenses of nuclear power plants in Germany, but said the concrete implications of this compromise still need to be examined for each plant.

MAIN FACTS:

-The compromise meant considerable burdens for E.ON in the form of taxes and charges and the concrete implications still needed to be examined.

-"With this decision, the German government has made it clear, that nuclear energy will continue to be needed for some time as one of the main pillars of our energy policy," said Chief Executive Johannes Teyssen.

-Arithmetically, the government decision means that the operating lives of E.ON's nuclear power plants Isar 1 and Unterweser will be extended by 8 years each, and those of Grafenrheinfeld, Grohnde, Brokdorf and Isar 2 by 14 years each.

-"On the whole, the government had tightened the screws quite considerably and would skim off most of the windfall profits," E.ON said, adding the concrete effects and entrepreneurial consequences of this political decision still needed to be analysed in detail.

-The longer-than-expected lifetime extension are per the existing high safety standards (no changes).

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley

Persuasive, pivotal, prescient prose portraying prosperous people perfectly, Matt Ridley paints a portrait in words describing the human race’s triumphant march toward progress.  Eminently readable, The Rational Optimist presents a macro look at history from the prosperity perspective.  In short, a masterpiece; in long, the next book you absolutely must read.

Hefting an early Stone Age hand axe, Ridley marvels at the “fits-in-your-hand” similarity to a computer mouse – both tools used by the same physical entity separated by only a few hundred thousand years. Comparing these two tools, Ridley wonders why and how do things get invented.  What happened about 100,000 years ago that initiated the transformation of humans from mere hunter-gatherers to today’s dominating planetary lifeforce?  Ridley proceeds to answer those questions and more in an eloquent, enthralling essay of inimitable ideas.

Climbing into the virtual time machine that doubles as Matt Ridley’s fertile mind, the reader journeys back to an era where hunter-gatherers barely subsisted in a day-to-day struggle for survival.  Noting the contemporary hype that the days of yore were somehow superior to today’s mass-consumerism existence, Ridley challenges the irrational pessimists on a variety of fronts.  In all but one case, namely China -- which he acknowledges is an experiment in real time -- Ridley finds prosperity closely coupled with free trade, cheap energy and democracy. 

Vary the equation by injecting excessive taxes or restricting freedom through unwarranted regulation and Ridley shows that prosperity declines precipitously and irreversibly, time after time, example after example.  He posits that in keeping taxes and regulations reasonable, prosperity -- through innovation and free trade -- evolves exponentially as the collective knowledge of civilization contributes to the betterment of life, liberty and the environment.  Unfortunately, as Ridley documents, historical ruling classes just couldn’t keep their hands off the public goods and inevitably, as taxes and regulations increased, liberty and innovation decreased, resulting in idleness, decline and eventually displacement by either enemies or climate.

Ridley identifies “chiefs, priests and thieves” as the primary foes of prosperity.   He finds that the top down approach, favored by totalitarian chiefs, fails every time.  This simple fact solidifies the belief that no government can predict the future; let alone dictate it.  Ridley explains, using real world historical examples, how terrible taxes, ridiculous regulations and ubiquitous usurpers negate prosperity by institutionalizing stagnation.  That just about says it all.  In fact, some real time experiments appear to be occurring as I write this review, here and elsewhere in the world.

Ridley explains that, contrary to prevailing popular pessimistic beliefs, only the bottom up approach produces prosperity – similar to the way life evolved on Planet Earth.  Nowhere, Ridley argues, in the history of civilization has prosperity caused the environmental problems that many irrational pessimists insist are just around the corner.  Instead prosperity solves problems. 

Ridley explains how collective ideas rule and as long as unrestricted trade continues and energy costs remain low prosperity will increase and expand around the globe.  As goods are exchanged so are ideas and it is that exchange of ideas, Ridley argues that is essential to prosperity. 

He proceeds to identify the greatest innovation in the free exchange of ideas to ever grace the planet– the Internet!  Like the universe, it allows a finite but unbounded exchange of ideas.  Where will the free exchange of ideas lead?  No one knows and no one can predict but Ridley remains convinced that the free exchange of ideas will lead to innovation which will, in turn, lead to prosperity. 

Finally, Ridley takes a macro look at the issue of anthropogenic climate change.  After acknowledging the fact that the science is far from settled, Ridley analyzes the IPCC scenario.  He finds that the positives associated with the prosperity that would have to transpire in developing countries to cause the postulated increased planetary temperature would result in so many benefits that the negatives of a warmer planet would be miniscule.  It is, he argues, as if instead of only being 9.5 times better off 100 years from now the people would “only” be 8.5 times better off than we are today.

Ridley covers a lot of territory with The Rational Optimist; but, he overlooks the obvious implications of terrorist-delivered nuclear bombs destroying western civilization.  This scenario isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem at first blush; and, had he accepted my offer for an interview he could have elaborated on my questions.

Since retiring in 2004, I’ve read many books; but none come close to claiming the phrase “opened my eyes” as much as The Rational Optimist.  This book not only opened my eyes, but it also made me think optimistically about the future -- something that I haven’t done in a long time.  If you only read one book this week, this month or this year make it The Rational Optimist.  Not only will your eyes be opened, but your mind will be opened as well.

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves Matt Ridley
HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, 438 pp.
ISBN 978-0-06-145205-5

"This investment is an important vote of confidence by two leaders in the nuclear power industry and will strengthen the deployment of the American Centrifuge Plant," said John K. Welch, USEC president and chief executive officer.

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

USEC Inc. today closed on the first phase of a strategic investment in the company by nuclear power industry leaders The Babcock & Wilcox Company and Toshiba Corporation. This investment of $75 million will be used for continued progress on activities related to the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio and general corporate purposes.

In May 2010, USEC announced that Toshiba Corporation and Babcock & Wilcox Investment Company, an affiliate of The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), signed a definitive agreement to make a $200 million investment in USEC over three phases. Phase one closed today. Closing on phase two of the investment of $50 million will occur when, among other things, USEC secures a conditional commitment on a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The balance of the investment - $75 million - in phase three is conditioned, among other things, on closing on a $2 billion loan under DOE's loan guarantee program for the American Centrifuge Plant and USEC shareholder approval of certain matters. At the end of July, USEC submitted a comprehensive update to its application to obtain a DOE loan guarantee.

"This investment is an important vote of confidence by two leaders in the nuclear power industry and will strengthen the deployment of the American Centrifuge Plant," said John K. Welch, USEC president and chief executive officer. "Further, this is another essential step in the development of a strategic relationship that we believe will create new business opportunities for all three companies as the global fleet of nuclear power reactors grows."

"As energy needs grow around the world, we are very pleased to expand our role in the nuclear renaissance," said Yasuharu Igarashi, corporate senior vice president of Toshiba.  "Nuclear power is safe and reliable, and it is a key element in the solution to carbon emissions."

"This investment also initiates the formation of American Centrifuge Manufacturing, a joint venture between B&W and USEC which will provide integrated manufacturing and assembly of centrifuge machines for USEC's American Centrifuge Plant," said S. Robert Cochran, President of Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Inc. "In addition, this investment will allow B&W, Toshiba and USEC to build on their relationship by creating new opportunities for their organizations."

In connection with their investment, Toshiba and B&W elected two new members to USEC's Board of Directors.  These directors are Hiroshi Sakamoto, senior vice president and board director, Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, and Michael S. Taff, senior vice president and chief financial officer of B&W.

Closing on the first phase of the investment follows a review of the investment by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DOE and, with respect to Toshiba's investment, by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

"It's a big endeavor for the station, because safety is our number one priority," said Randy Douet, the plant's vice president.

- Edited By Chris Reed -

According to ClarionLedger.com, Entergy Mississippi this month will present its plans for a $510 million expansion of the Grand Gulf nuclear plant to federal regulators. If approved, Grand Gulf would make it the largest single-reactor nuclear plant in the nation.

With approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the utility would increase the plant's output from 1,265 megawatts to 1,443 - a 13 percent increase, Entergy officials said.

After the upgrade, Grand Gulf will be able to produce enough electricity to power an additional 53,000 homes for the life of the plant. The average home uses about 1,000 Kw-h per month, company spokeswoman Mara Hartmann said.

The upgrade is scheduled for February 2012 during regular maintenance outages, pending federal approval. Entergy expects it will take at least a few weeks, but has no definitive timetable for the expansion.

"It's a big endeavor for the station, because safety is our number one priority," Randy Douet, the plant's vice president, told The Clarion-Ledger's editorial board Monday. "We're basically making what we have run at higher power."

The Mississippi Public Service Commission already has backed the effort, but federal approval is needed before work can start.

Entergy Mississippi President Haley Fisackerly says the NRC will receive documents including the plant's design and various engineering data. Some new equipment will be needed, too.

Douet says it typically takes the NRC 11 months to review this type of proposal and he doesn't expect any problems because the upgrades are standard for a growing nuclear facility.

If the federal agency finds that tweaks to the plan are needed, those can be incorporated into the plans before February 2012, he said.

On the slight chance a major problem will arise, the company can delay the upgrades, Douet said.

A separate, $4 billion expansion to add a second reactor at the site remains on hold pending a significant economic recovery, the officials said. In January 2009, Entergy withdrew plans for the new reactor.

The planned updates in 2012 will add about 1,500 temporary jobs in construction, engineering and technical areas, company officials said.

You can read more here: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100902/BIZ/9020337/1005/Grand-Gulf-seeks-to-expand

- Edited By Chris Reed -

According to The Financial Express, General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, owned by Japan's Toshiba Corp, could spend a combined $10 billion to build two nuclear reactors in India.

Citing unidentified official sources, the newspaper said agreements with the two U.S.-based firms were being firmed up ahead of President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to India in November.

This will be the first slice of the estimated $200-250 billion business that India can offer to overseas suppliers of nuclear plants and services over the next two decades.

The government has also identified France's AREVA and Russia's Rosatom for building nuclear reactors in the country, the paper said.

While the two US firms were eager to be suppliers for India's nuclear reactor market, it was the liability issue that hindered their plans, putting them at a competitive disadvantage over Russian and French firms whose accident liability is underwritten by their governments.  AREVA and Rosatom are covered by sovereign immunity because they are fully or partially controlled by their respective governments.

- Edited By Tom Lamar -

From the start, one question especially has concerned the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Why Crystal River?

Why did a 42-inch-thick wall at that nuclear plant separate into two layers during a big maintenance project last fall? Other nuclear plants have done similar jobs 26 times around the country, but no one ever saw a crack like Crystal River's - a crack that has kept the plant off-line for 11 months and piled up nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in outage costs.

On Thursday, NRC officials said they think they know the answers to that question and others.

First, NRC inspectors said Progress Energy's analysis of the crack - known as a delamination - was thorough and supported the company's conclusions about when and how it formed. And they concluded that because the wall separated when the plant was shut down with no fuel in the reactor, there was no risk of a release of radiation.

"The delamination did not represent an increase in risk to the public," NRC senior reactor inspector Louis Lake said during a public meeting to review the agency's findings.

Moreover, they said the Crystal River plant appears to be unique.

"We looked hard to see, is there something about this delamination that would cause us concern for other plants?" said Mark Franke, an engineering branch chief for the NRC's regional office for the southeast United States. "We found that we did not have an immediate safety concern for other nuclear facilities."

So what happened?

At the Crystal River reactor building, the barrier that keeps any sudden build-up of heat, pressure or radiation from escaping is a steel liner three-eighths of an inch thick. It covers the inside of the building. It is supported by a thick concrete wall that is strengthened with hundreds of tightened vertical and horizontal steel tendons.

Last September, workers shut down the plant and began relaxing the tension in some of those tendons so they could cut a big hole in the reactor building wall to remove and replace two huge steam generators. Easing the tension caused unexpected stresses inside the concrete, and that formed the delamination.

While other nuclear plants have cut holes in their walls, only a small number had similar designs and used similar methods, officials said. And Crystal River is still unique in the way its concrete was made and the tendons were put in the wall.

"Crystal River has larger tendons (and) fewer of them," Franke said. "If you can imagine, that means that each tendon makes a bigger difference to the local stresses in the concrete when you either tension or detension it."

In another plant, with more tendons circling and reinforcing the liner like rubber bands, easing the tension in any one might not make as much of a difference.

You can read more here: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/crack-at-crystal-river-nuclear-power-plant-explained/1119240