This month an employee brought beer to the Davis-Besse #nuclear reactor in #Ohio, and personnel failed drug tests at Watts Bar in #Tennessee and South #Texas. If you worked at one of the "Terrible Thirteen," you might want to forget your troubles too. blog.ucs.org/edwin-lyman/...

Energoatom reports that the Zaporizhzhia #nuclear plant has lost all off-site power today for the 10th time since the Russian invasion. A precarious situation.

The July scram of the Watts Bar-2 #nuclear plant in #Tennessee was caused when water dripping through a hole in the roof short-circuited a breaker, shutting down multiple coolant pumps and the main turbine. TVA, fix the darned roof before buying SMRs. www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2525/...

Seven allegations have already been filed at the Palisades #nuclear plant in #Michigan this calendar year and the reactor hasn't even been restarted yet. What is going on there?

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants to slash the number of hours it spends inspecting #nuclear reactor safety. security, and emergency preparedness by 34 percent beginning January 1, 2026. There is no justification for such a major cut to its inspections. adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/m...

On Saturday the Hatch-2 #nuclear reactor in #Georgia was manually scrammed at 70 percent power when both reactor recirculation pumps stopped working during a test of the main turbine control valve. The reactor was still down this morning.

Yesterday an Unusual Event was declared for nearly two hours at the Oconee-1 #nuclear reactor in #SouthCarolina when the reactor coolant system developed a leak of 26 gallons per minute during maintenance of a letdown filter.

The source of the cesium-137 that tainted the shrimp exports from Indonesia may have come from contaminated scrap metal. This makes a lot of sense and also underscores how sloppy handling of medical radiation sources can have wide-ranging impacts. www.9news.com/article/news...

This takes the word "lunacy" to a whole new level

I'm really sorry to report that my longtime colleague Dan Hirsch, founder of Committee to Bridge the Gap, has passed away. Dan was a tireless advocate for strengthening security at #nuclear power plants. www.committeetobridgethegap.org/2025/07/27/d...

On Tuesday the Susequehanna-1 #nuclear reactor in #Pennsylvania was manually scrammed at full power after the main transformer experienced a cooling loss. The reactor is still down today. Should be a warning to Amazon about the reliability of this plant to power its data center.

1/9. A House Oversight subcommittee is holding a #nuclear power hearing today. The first order of business must be to investigate how the troubling takeover of the formerly independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the executive branch is jeopardizing nuclear safety and security. For example:

A really creepy statement from the NRC revealing that the takeover of the agency (unfortunately, not an entirely hostile one) is complete. Reminds me of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Another sad day for our weakening democracy. www.nrc.gov/cdn/doc-coll...

My worst fears are being realized. www.eenews.net/articles/dog...

Yesterday the Watts Bar-2 #nuclear reactor in #Tennessee automatically scrammed at full power after a loss of secondary power caused both feedwater pumps to shut down and the turbine to trip. The reactor, which is on my "Terrible Thirteen," list, is still down this morning.

A DOGE lackey from DOE is now installed at NRC. www.epw.senate.gov/public/index...

Story on my "Terrible Thirteen" report. Sounds like Entergy didn't care for it much. www.nola.com/news/busines...

The #nuclear startup Oklo says that it expects to have its first reactor up and running by early 2028. But the reactor cannot run without fuel. And it is not going to submit an application for the fuel fabrication facility before 2026. You do the math. www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2517/...

A dire warning.

The horrible death toll in #Texas could have been reduced if Kerr Country had emergency sirens instead of relying solely on electronic alerts, which are not reliable. Food for thought for NRC and FEMA as they allow #nuclear plant emergency siren networks to be retired.

I'm very sorry to report that my old colleague Bob Alvarez passed away earlier this week. I worked with him on a paper on the hazards of wet spent fuel storage more than 20 years ago that has been widely read and cited. www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1209/... ips-dc.org/ips_author/r...

🚨 JUST IN: Iran can still build nuclear weapons without further enrichment. Only diplomacy will stop it By @ucs.org's @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social In @thebulletin.org thebulletin.org/2025/07/iran... #Iran #uranium #HEU #proliferation #nuclearweapons #nuclearrisk #IAEA #enrichment #nukesky

Former NRC chairman David Wright is yet another victim (presumably temporary) of the "Big, Beautiful Bill." www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/or...

My op-ed today at Utility Dive: www.utilitydive.com/news/trump-n...

🎯 “The industry has had a chip on its shoulder for so long that it’s afraid to be honest about what it doesn’t know, and it’s putting forth a positive message that’s not backed by science. It’s the regulator’s role to see through that." — @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social

Now the world just has to hope that Iran didn't simply relocate a portion of its HEU stockpile to a secret location.

Yesterday operators manually scrammed the troubled Grand Gulf #nuclear plant in #Mississippi, one of the Terrible Thirteen (blog.ucs.org/edwin-lyman/...) after a circulating water pump tripped and condenser vacuum degraded. The plant was only at 70% power at the time, not clear why.

Another outrageous move by King Donald. Hanson is a dedicated public servant and a strong supporter of the NRC's public health and safety mission.

Editorial: Dangerous Quad Cities plant incident gives us reason for concern about nuke operator's commitment to safety www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/10/e...

Despite pushback from Entergy, the NRC has confirmed that inadequate maintenance of an emergency diesel generator at the Waterford #nuclear plant in #Louisiana (one of the "Terrible Thirteen," blog.ucs.org/edwin-lyman/...) was a White safety violation. www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2514/...

On Friday operators lowered the power of the Browns Ferry-2 #nuclear reactor in #Alabama to 39 percent after it lost one of its recirculation pumps. They then had to scram it manually after it lost the other pump. And for some reason Unit 3 is only at 70 percent today.

Trump signed an EO to reorganize + have layoffs at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - oversees commercial nuclear + has recently struggled w/ recruiting...leading to worries that the agency will focus more on approving licenses than safety + abt DOGE's involvement www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

My latest piece in @thebulletin.org argues that the NRC would be justified in rejecting the executive order that would effectively destroy the agency. thebulletin.org/2025/05/the-...

Yesterday the Vogtle-1 #nuclear reactor in #Georgia was manually scrammed at full power after a main feedwater pump stopped working. The reactor is still offline today.

Here's my latest blog on the worst safety and security performers in the US #nuclear fleet: blog.ucs.org/edwin-lyman/...

This one is too close for comfort: Yesterday the 1.1 MW Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute research reactor (only a few miles from #WashingtonDC) experienced a rapid power excursion and scram during startup. The steady-state power limit was briefly exceeded.

Yesterday an Unusual Event was briefly declared at the troubled Quad Cities #nuclear plant in #Illinois after a Unit 2 battery cell undergoing testing caught fire. It was extinguished by the fire brigade after 9 minutes. Unit 1 is still down after the scram last week.

The draft executive orders meant to bolster nuclear power growth are focusing on the wrong issues. Costs and safety should be the Energy Department's priority, @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social writes in @thebulletin.org. thebulletin.org/2025/05/trum... #nuclearenergy #nuclearsafety #SMR #nukesky

He was a great person with a complicated legacy. Someone quite important to me. RIP. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/s...

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck #Tennessee this morning around 40 miles from the Watts Bar #nuclear plant.

Latest update. Zaporizhzhia is limping along on only one offsite power line again. www.iaea.org/newscenter/p...

A serious contamination incident occurred on 4/8 at the Curium facility in #Indiana after two liquid radioactive waste lines broke when workers were repairing a strontium-82 production hot cell. Dose rates > 1000 rem/hr were detected and one worker exceeded the annual dose limit.

A not surprising but still sobering finding about the cancer impacts of radiation exposures from CT scans. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

On Thursday a licensed operator at the #Arkansas #Nuclear One-1 plant tested positive for alcohol. Their unescorted access was terminated.