1966 - Enrico Fermi Liquid Sodium Cooled Breeder Reactor Melts Down

Wikipedia reports that; "on October 5, 1966, Fermi 1, a prototype fast breeder reactor, suffered a partial fuel meltdown... After repairs it was shut down by 1972.[1]

The Fermi Station (NRC image)

The 94 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor Fermi 1 unit was under construction and development at the site from 1957 to 1972. On October 5, 1966 Fermi 1 suffered a partial fuel meltdown. According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there was no abnormal radiation release to the environment.^[3]

The main cause of the temperature increase was a blockage in one of the spigots that allowed the flow of cooled liquid sodium into the reactor. The blockage caused an insufficient amount of coolant to enter; this was not noticed by the operators until the core temperature alarms sounded. Several fuel rod subassemblies reached high temperatures of around 700 °F (370 °C) (with an expected range near 580 °F, 304 °C), causing them to melt.^[3]

Following an extended shutdown that involved fuel replacement, repairs to vessel, and cleanup, Fermi 1 continued to operate intermittently until September 22, 1972, but was never again able to reach a fully operational state. It was officially decommissioned December 31, 1975. It is currently in SAFSTOR with a gradual "final" decommissioning in progress.^[3]

A number of accounts of the accident are available. There is some debate about whether the details of the accident as written in the book Fermi-1 New Age for Nuclear Power^[4] and published by the American Nuclear Society in 1979 are completely accurate. Several of the claims in the ANS's account are contradicted by certain parts of We Almost Lost Detroit, a book written by local Detroit newsman John Grant Fuller (subtitled "This Is Not A Novel").^[5] The book Normal Accidents, written by Yale professorCharles Perrow, describes this accident in more detail.

Fermi 2

Fermi 2 is a 1,098 net MWe General Electric boiling water reactor owned by DTE Energy and operated by subsidiary DTE Electric. It was opened in January 1988 and is currently in operation.^[6]

On June 6, 2010 a tornado touched down and damaged the Fermi 2 generator building and forced an automatic shutdown. The tornadoes damaged electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure in the area leaving over 30,000 people without power in the area.^[7] The plant is connected to two single-circuit 345 kV Transmission Lines and 3 120 kV lines. They are operated and maintained by ITC Transmission.

Fermi 3

In September 2008, Detroit Edison filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) for a third reactor.^[8] The new unit is supposed to be built on the same site, slightly to the southwest of Fermi 2. The reactor design selected is the 1,520 MWe GE-designed passive Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). Review of the 17,000-page application could take four years, after which construction could take six years. The cost is estimated at as much as $10 billion.^[9] CEO Anthony Earley said that DTE's analysis "so far shows that nuclear power will, over the long term, be the most cost-effective baseload option for our customers, ... We expect nuclear to remain the low-cost option, but we will continue to evaluate nuclear against other resources and will commit to proceeding with construction only at the right time and at the right cost".^[10]

In March 2009, a coalition of citizen groups asked federal regulators to reject plans for Fermi 3, contending that it would pose a range of threats to public health and the environment. The groups have filed 14 contentions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, claiming that a new plant would pose "radioactive, toxic and thermal impacts on Lake Erie's vulnerable western basin."^[11][12]

This proposed plant should not be confused with the original Fermi 3 project which was to be a companion unit identical to Fermi 2. The original Fermi 3 was ordered in 1972 and cancelled in 1974. SeeDOE data page 67 and WNA Fermi 3 data.

Ownership

The plant is operated by the DTE Electric and owned (100 percent) by DTE Energy.

Seismic risk

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Fermi was 1 in 238,095 (less than those of Three Mile Island), according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[13][14]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi_Nuclear_Generating_Station

SUMMARY

Enrico Fermi Unit 1
Location: Frenchtown Township, Monroe County, Michigan
Reactor Type: Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor.Power: 200 MWt; 65 MWe.
Began Operating: August 23, 1966.
Melt Down Occurred: Oct. 5, 1966, 2 of 105 fuel assemblies melt.
Shut down: Nov. 1972.

Fermi I suffered a partial meltdown in the 1960's. This is the same type of reactor that is now being proposed for the 'next generation' reactors which use plutonium as a fuel. Current Fermi reactors use the same flawed and badly engineered, dangerous reactor design as Fukushima Daiichi, which suffered a catastrophic 3 reactor meltdown, and multiple spent fuel pool fires all due to a natural event that was forecast and predicted by numerous experts who tried to warn the nuclear plant builders and designers.

Today, this complex still suffers from problems and close calls. Here is the latest one...

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Link to NRC Event Notification Report here:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-col...

SECONDARY CONTAINMENT PRESSURE POSITIVE FOR 12 SECONDS

"On 01/22/2013 at 00:30 Reactor building HVAC tripped due to low outside air temperature and Standby Gas Treatment system was manually started and maintained Reactor Building differential pressure negative. At 01:13 secondary containment pressure went positive during restart of the Center Reactor Building HVAC Train. This is a loss of secondary containment function. In a 12 second time span secondary containment pressure went above 0 inches WC Water Column to 0.17 inches WC and then decreased to 0 inches WC remaining stable during the Reactor Building HVAC restart. The Center Reactor Building HVAC Exhaust Fan Discharge Damper opened after the Supply Fan discharge damper; this condition would produce the indications noted.

"The System was returned to normal with two Reactor Building HVAC trains running and the Standby Gas Treatment System shutdown and in standby. Reactor building pressure is stable with differential pressure negative - 0.30 inches WC.

"The loss of Secondary Containment function is reportable under 10 CFR 50.72 (b)(3)(v)(C) as an event or condition that could have prevented the fulfillment of a safety function needed to control the release of radioactive material."

End

1966 - Enrico Fermi Liquid Sodium Cooled Breeder Reactor Melts Down; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/1966-enrico-fermi-liquid-sodium-cooled.html

For a more complete list of all nuclear plant meltdowns globally, go to;

Nuclear Accidents, Recycling Nuclear Weapons/Fuel
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/p/nuclear-accidents-around-world.html