Down, up, down again: Arkansas Nuclear One

Entergy announced August 8th that its Arkansas nuke was back up after a man died there in March, but it only made it to 87% power on August 12th and then back to zero yesterday. There’s no NRC event for yesterday’s downtime: what’s going on? Meanwhile, the dead man’s family is suing Entergy, and Entergy is suing its contractors. Sounds like the Plant Vogtle circular firing squad.

ANO Feb-Aug 2013

THV11 wrote 8 August 2013, Nuclear One unit back on after deadly accident and EBR staff wrote more detail for Energy Business Review 9 August 2013, Entergy restarts Unit 1 at Arkansas Nuclear One power plant,

Prior to restart, the unit needed an extensive restoration, including damage evaluation, repairs to non-nuclear plant components and rescheduling its refueling activities.

The restoration was made compulsory following the collapse of a contractor’s crane on 31 March 2013, while shifting a generator stator out of the turbine building.

Hm, “made compulsory” by whom? NRC? OSHA, which also investigated? Arkansas? Other?

Entergy ANO site vice president Jeremy Browning said, “We’d like to thank the community for their outpouring of support at both the local and state levels.”

ANO August 2013 “As a corporate neighbor of the Russellville area, your confidence in us is deeply appreciated. The ANO team is committed to the safety of this plant, the people who work here and those who live in this community,” Browning added.

During the event, there was no radiological release and no impact on public health or safety.

The unit was shut down on 24 March 2013 for its scheduled refueling outage.

Hm, a four month plus refueling outage…. And Entergy apparently isn’t concerned enough about its neighbors to tell them why ANO is back down.

During the long downtime TVH11 staff wrote 2 July 2013, Wrongful death lawsuit filed in death at Nuclear One plant,

The suit states, “This is an action for wrongful death, ordinary negligence, negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent supervision, negligent retention, negligent hiring of an independent contractor, for declaratory judgment, and for punitive damages, stemming from multiple incidents of recklessness and negligence that lead to the collapse of an industrial crane on Easter Sunday, 2013, killing Wade Walters.”

[T]he suit, which was filed July 2 in Polk County Circuit Court, is filed against the following entities:

  • Bigge Power Constructors
  • Bigge Crane and Rigging Co.
  • Bigge Group, Inc.
  • Siemens Energy, Inc.
  • DP Engineering, Inc.
  • Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
  • Entergy Operations, Inc.
  • John Doe 1, John Doe 2, John Doe 3

Luke Jones wrote for Arkansas Business 29 July 2013, Entergy Files Suit in Nuclear One Accident,

Bigge Crane & Rigging Co. of San Leandro, Calif., was hired to build a gantry, a bridge-like frame, to move a 550-ton generation turbine as part of a regular refueling operation, according to the suit filed this month in Pope County Circuit Court.

The job entailed lifting the turbine, called a “stator,” from its cradle, moving it over the turbine deck, turning it 90 degrees and lowering it onto a transport vehicle. The gantry was designed by Claus Frederiksen, an engineer working for Bigge, the suit says.

Entergy alleges that Bigge didn’t properly test the gantry before lifting the stator….

The suit also names DP Engineering Ltd. of Fort Worth, Texas, VEI General Contractors Inc. of Russellville and John Scroggins, an employee of DP, all for having a part in what the suit describes as miscommunication about the accident.

Entergy is seeking undetermined monetary damages for repairs and for increased administrative and generation costs.

Sounds like the Plant Vogtle circular firing squad. Heaven forbid a nuclear operator should take responsibility for hiring them in the first place or for not properly supervising them.

-jsq