Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?

homer7g · Apr 01, 2019, 10:55

2-3 years ago some poor schmuck fell off an IVVI platform into the reactor cavity during an RFO. He was fine - took a bath and got 5 mrem dose. The bigger problem was that it was caught on one of the RP cameras and some moron took video of it on their cell phone and posted it to social media.

Brett LaVigne · Apr 09, 2019, 02:18

Decommissioning Humboldt Bay was basically like cleaning up a collection of 50+ years of radiological screw ups. What did I learn? That in the earliest days of commercial nuclear power, we were not very good at it. Oh yeah... And don't have a concrete spent fuel pool in one of the most earthquake prone area's of the world. ;-)

RFaunt · Apr 11, 2019, 09:27

Quote from: homer7g on Apr 01, 2019, 10:55
2-3 years ago some poor schmuck fell off an IVVI platform into the reactor cavity during an RFO. He was fine - took a bath and got 5 mrem dose. The bigger problem was that it was caught on one of the RP cameras and some moron took video of it on their cell phone and posted it to social media.

Sounds like CC last Feb/Mar. I knew it had reached peak 2018 when a resident NRC inspector asked if I had seen the video because it was sent to him.

TVA · Apr 11, 2019, 02:50

Ok how does a guy actually fall in?

Nearest I ever saw was an engineer who actually crawled over a refueling crane rail because he wanted to look at something.

Marlin · Apr 11, 2019, 03:01

Quote from: TVA on Apr 11, 2019, 02:50
Ok how does a guy actually fall in?

Nearest I ever saw was an engineer who actually crawled over a refueling crane rail because he wanted to look at something.

I saw a man with an artificial leg trip and partially enter the fuel pool my initial impression was shock believing he was highly contaminated. Frisked out clean before decon of him and his artificial leg. Other than divers I have never seen anyone fully submerged in a fuel pool either.

GLW · Apr 11, 2019, 03:58

Quote from: TVA on Apr 11, 2019, 02:50
Ok how does a guy actually fall in?

nowhereman · Apr 11, 2019, 07:38

I was a contractor HP for the CY outage of 1989, quite the eye opening experience. Common phrases used by house mouse's were piggyback beta and "everyone is crapping up the alpha meters "and we are going to pull them out of containment...ok, so we get to the SOP and "you are not bringing those smears out here". Then watching the house S/G lead on video in the S/G skirt going up the ladder in a lab coat, gloves and rubber boot covers ...no socks ..bare skin from his ankles...he left a trail of devastation for the next 10 years. heard he was delivering mail now...
Btw, I think I remember "the air sample" was 4000mpc ? Probably the most obtuse thing was that we had extra days off before the outage so that CY could run longer to make that record run...haha

scotoma · Apr 12, 2019, 09:34

Yankee Rowe late 1980s. They knew they had failed fuel. They were doing the fuel offload, picked up an element. While they were moving it, the top of a fuel pin fell off and rolled acres the cavity floor leaving a black trail behind. After draining the cavity, the Cavity Drain Line got up to 175 R/hr......Okay, I have to admit that this isn't the worst screw up I have witnessed, but it is notable.

hamsamich · Apr 12, 2019, 08:16

Calvert cliffs decided to re-machine (can you say sawzall) the new thimble support plate IN THE Refuel Pool after they realized it was off quite a bit..... More than one RP tech said bad idea, FME bad. They said...oh no, we got this. 5 extra days of FOSAR equals how much $$$

It was hard to see the bottom of the pool in some parts with all the shavings....wow. Hard to make this stuff up. 1986? no 2006.

retired nuke · Apr 13, 2019, 11:15

A single fuel pin (in 4 pieces) is approximately 1R/hr at about 40 ft in air - Palisades 1993

ipregen · Apr 16, 2019, 11:47

Quote from: retired nuke on Apr 13, 2019, 11:15
A single fuel pin (in 4 pieces) is approximately 1R/hr at about 40 ft in air - Palisades 1993

Ah, the fun times at Palisades with the subsequent fuel fleas. In spite of that I did enjoy working there.

gerald.rood · Apr 25, 2019, 05:53

Lowering an air sampler into the top manway of the pressurized to collect a pre-entry air sample. Drain valve to the RCDT was open and allowed hydrogen back into the pressurized. The "rapid burn" blew off the tech's rain gear. He did not fall 40 feet from the scaffold but had a look on his face I will never forget. Outside of CMNT it sounded like being on the inside of a tenor drum - loudest sound level I've ever experienced.

TVA · Apr 27, 2019, 01:59

The outage after Fermi started Hydrogen Water Chemistry no one considered H2 might remain in the FW piping. Guys grinding on the pipe hit a pocket