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Nuclear waste continues to pile up at reactors across the United States and here in South Carolina. At the Oconee Nuclear Station, the pools for spent nuclear fuel rods are full. Space can continue to be added to dry storage in Oconee, but that space is intended for less radioactive waste. Advertisement The problem in Oconee is a familiar one across the nation. More than 60,000 metric tons of spent fuel are being stored at 121 locations, mostly nuclear reactors, in 39 states.

Oconee Nuclear Station should have responded faster when a control room alarm warning of radiation levels activated for 8-1/2 hours in April, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said last week. No enforcement action was taken against Duke Energy by the federal agency because the incident was of low safety significance, said NRC spokesman Roger Hannah. The Union of Concerned Scientists had criticized Oconee Nuclear Station last week for exposing workers to "dangerous" radiation levels and not responding to the alarm for 8-1/2 hours during which time a containment hatch was opened and workers were sent into the reactor building.

Oconee Nuclear Station should have responded faster when a control room alarm warning of radiation levels activated for 81/2 hours in April, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said Wednesday. No enforcement action was taken against Duke Energy by the federal agency because the incident was of low safety significance, said NRC spokesman Roger Hannah. The Union of Concerned Scientists had criticized Oconee Nuclear Station on Tuesday for exposing workers to "dangerous" radiation levels and not responding to the alarm for 81/2 hours, during which time a containment hatch was opened and workers were sent into the reactor building.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an application dated January 30, 2008, from Duke Power Company LLC d/b/a Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, (Duke) for the renewal of its Special Nuclear Material (SNM) License SNM-2503, under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72, for the receipt, possession, storage and transfer of spent fuel and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage at the Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), located at the ONS site in Oconee County, South Carolina. If granted, the renewed license will authorize Duke to continue to store spent fuel in a dry cask storage system at the ISFSI. Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 72.42, the renewal term of the license for an ISFSI is limited to 20 years. Duke, however, has also submitted an exemption request with its license renewal application, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, seeking a license renewal term of 40 years. In accordance with 10 CFR 72.34, Duke's renewal application included an Environmental Report (which is attached as Enclosure 3, Appendix E of Duke's application).

But maintenance-related 2008 incident will trigger additional federal oversight All three reactor units at Oconee Nuclear Station operated safely overall during 2008; however, Unit 1 will be under greater federal scrutiny due to an April 15 incident that raised safety concerns, federal officials said Thursday. Advertisement With one exception, all findings during the year were of "very low safety significance," said Andy Hutto, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission senior resident inspector at the plant. Those were corrected appropriately, he said. Only the April 15 incident rose to a level of concern that triggers additional oversight, Hutto said.

Duke Energy doesn't plan to use nuclear reactor fuel made from converted weapons-grade plutonium at its Oconee reactors, a spokeswoman has told The Greenville News. But Duke, the only American utility to use the mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel in its reactors, does plan to use MOX in two of its other nuclear plants once the MOX factory at the Savannah River Site near Aiken begins production, said Rita Sipe, a Duke spokeswoman.

A nuclear industry watchdog group has chided Duke Energy for the way the Charlotte-based energy company handled a recent scheduled refueling operation that included the replacement of coolant pumps and seals. During a routine shutdown of Unit 1 April 12 at the Oconee Nuclear Station on S.C. 130 north of Seneca vibrations were detected by monitors. Officials of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted a special inspection to assess the circumstances associated with the high vibrations.

The Union of Concerned Scientists said Tuesday that Oconee Nuclear Station workers were exposed to "dangerous" levels of radiation due to "mishaps" during an April incident -- allegations Duke Energy denies. A Duke spokeswoman said Tuesday that areas of the reactor building were evacuated as a precaution, and workers weren't sent into high-radiation areas. Dave Lochbaum, director of nuclear safety projects for the union, said that during the shutdown "the company had damaged two reactor coolant pumps, unknowingly exceeded reactor cool-down limits and triggered a potentially disastrous loss-of-coolant accident."

Officials have interrupted the multiyear test of converted plutonium fuel at a South Carolina nuclear reactor after the discovery of "excessive growth" in the fuel assemblies, two nuclear watchdog groups said Monday. Advertisement Officials with the two groups said the discovery has implications for other reactors, including Oconee Nuclear Station, where similar types of fuel assemblies using different fuel have produced "the same flaw."

Lake Keowee will be lowered on Oct. 20 in order for Duke Energy to perform some preventative maintenance. This is an annual procedure that Duke Energy does in order to maintain its intake pumps. "As part of the operation of the Oconee Nuclear Plant, we have some intake pumps that bring water from Lake Keowee into the plant as part of what is called the condensing cooling water system of the plant," said Jason Walls, a spokesman for Duke Energy. "The pumps are used to basically help turn steam back into water after it turns the turbines. For our employees to safely access the areas that need to be maintained we're going to have to lower Lake Keowee."

A series of mishaps that occurred during a recent refueling outage at Duke Energy's Oconee nuclear plant near Greenville, S.C. exposed workers to dangerous levels of radiation, the Union of Concerned Scientists reports. On April 12, the plant shut down for refueling -- the 24th such outage since the reactor began operating in the early 1970s. But practice clearly did not make perfect, as one mishap after another occurred during the 36-hour shutdown. By the time the outage was over, the company had damaged two reactor coolant pumps, unknowingly exceeded reactor cool-down limits, and triggered a potentially disastrous loss-of-coolant accident.

Old issue of radioactive waste lingers as utilities plan new nuclear plants Hundreds of spent fuel rods will be removed from Oconee Nuclear Station's Unit 2 when the reactor is shut down for routine maintenance and refueling next month. Advertisement The high-level radioactive waste will be stored in a contained pool, surrounded by water and a series of redundant safety precautions -- but only for a while, because Oconee's pools are full.

Against the backdrop of Oconee Nuclear Station's three reactors in his home county, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett announced Monday a plan to ramp up nuclear energy production. Barrett said he plans to introduce legislation that would tackle "major hindrances" to a "nuclear renaissance" as part of a comprehensive approach to energy independence.

The state's health agency will be testing water from wells near three nuclear reactor sites around South Carolina. The Department of Health and Environmental Control says its staffers will visit residents Thursday and take samples from wells near Duke Energy Inc.'s nuclear power plants in York and Oconee counties and near the V.C. Summer plant in Fairfield County, which is co-owned by South Carolina Electric and Gas and state-owned utility Santee Cooper.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued annual assessment letters to the nation's 104 operating commercial nuclear power plants. All the plants continue to operate safely. "Our ongoing assessment of nuclear power plant performance is at the heart of the agency's mission of protecting people and the environment," said Eric Leeds, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. "The 2008 year-end results show that about 83 percent of the plants are performing strongly enough that we're satisfied with our basic level of inspections at those sites." If a nuclear power plant's performance declines, the NRC increases the level of inspection to ensure the plant operator is taking the steps necessary to correct the situation. The additional amount of inspection is commensurate with the level of plant performance. At the close of last year, only one reactor, Unit 3 at Palo Verde (Ariz.), required the NRC's highest level of attention. Three reactor units, Cooper (Neb.) and Units 1 and 2 at Palo Verde (Ariz.), required significant NRC attention. And another 14 reactor units, Units 1 and 2 at Byron (Ill.), Unit 1 at Comanche Peak (Texas), Unit 1 at Farley (Ala.), Unit 1 at Grand Gulf ( Miss.), Unit 2 at Hatch (Ga.), Kewaunee (Wis.), Units 1 and 2 at McGuire (N.C.), Unit 2 at Nine Mile Point (N.Y.), Unit 1 at Oconee (S.C.), Palisades (Mich.), Unit 1 at Prairie Island (Minn.), and Unit 2 at San Onofre (Calif.), required additional attention beyond the basic level.

The companies that own almost half the nation's nuclear reactors are not setting aside enough money to dismantle them, and many may sit idle for decades an Associated Press (AP) investigation has found. However, Duke Energy, which operates Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS) on Lake Keowee, is not among those companies. Local Duke officials said this week that the firm has bankrolled $1.4 billion in a "decommissioning fund" and collects approximately $48 million annually under its current rate structure for this purpose. Duke began collecting the money in 1979, 15 years after it began operation at ONS. Initially, ONS was granted a 40-year license. A 20-year extension has been obtained that will keep the unit 1 and unit 2 reactors on line until 2033, while the unit 3 reactor is scheduled for shutdown in 2034. Just this week, site manager Dave Baxter told community leaders that thought is being given to seeking another 20-year extension. However, for now, Duke spokesperson Sandra Magee said ONS is operating from the premise that the reactors will go off-line in 2033 and 2034.

Managing lake levels is a delicate balancing act at best, a Duke official said Thursday, but the general outlook calls for levels of some lakes to decline. Lake Jocassee can expect to take the biggest hit, said George Galleher of Duke Energy hydroelectric operations, because of the lake's part in the whole balancing act. Galleher spoke at a forum on the overall health of the Duke Energy lakes and their watershed. The forum was sponsored by the Friends of Lake Keowee Society and held at Duke Energy's World of Energy center north of Seneca.

Managing lake levels is a delicate balancing act at best, a Duke official said Thursday, but the general outlook calls for levels of some lakes to decline. Lake Jocassee can expect to take the biggest hit, said George Galleher of Duke Energy hydroelectric operations, because of the lake's part in the whole balancing act. Galleher spoke at a forum on the overall health of the Duke Energy lakes and their watershed. The forum was sponsored by the Friends of Lake Keowee Society and held at Duke Energy's World of Energy center north of Seneca.