San Onofre (SONGS)

[MeterSwangin]

Any insiders have an update on the SGRO?  Stories floating around do not paint a pretty picture at day #21.

All true, yet not.  No near-fatalities, PCEs over now that rx is disassembled.  Bechtel will make up lost time.  NRC gave good report on major inspection exit.  RP squared away.  Sun is warm, diem $140.  All good.

[HydroDave63]

All true, yet not.  No near-fatalities, PCEs over now that rx is disassembled.  Bechtel will make up lost time.  NRC gave good report on major inspection exit.  RP squared away.  Sun is warm, diem $140.  All good.

Oh, you are right.  That shovel that dropped 75-feet, landing a mere 5-feet from a group of workers wasn't even close to being a fatality.  It isn't like they actually got hit with anything.

Sun Dog, duuuude, get with the program! Between playing Hearts before/during/after breakfast in the 70' cafeteria, and an extended lunch period, who has TIME to go outside to dodge shovels or clevis pins or loaded forklifts that fall off of the turbine deck to the ground level below? Vacancy through complacency!

[MeterSwangin]

Sun Dog, duuuude, get with the program! Between playing Hearts before/during/after breakfast in the 70' cafeteria, and an extended lunch period, who has TIME to go outside to dodge shovels or clevis pins or loaded forklifts that fall off of the turbine deck to the ground level below? Vacancy through complacency!

No cards, no extended lunch, no falling clevis pins or forklifts.  You EVER been there, HydroTroll?  Geeze.

[MeterSwangin]

How does this outage differ from the past SGRO?  Is the large increase in the number of PCEs during head disassembly the result of higher than anticipated contamination levels? poor rad work practices?  inadequate RP coverage?  increased scope?  all of the above?

Particles.  2000 people go in, one comes out with 200 cpm particle on scrubs.  Repeat next day.  Yawn.

[HydroDave63]

No cards, no extended lunch, no falling clevis pins or forklifts.  You EVER been there, HydroTroll?  Geeze.

Let's see....finish fries after card game, a right to the elevators, out the door , about 100 feet to the end of the turbine deck and look down....yeah, I have no idea why that big shiny grey thing would be called a Holdup tank, and probably never hung tags on it either. All is well with the world while you are reppin' da 2-4-6!

[HydroDave63]

It's odd...93 other plants DON'T have breaker components going back as RAM, maybe some thoriated arcing contacts for that extra ooomph? Someone might want to check the pedigree on those components via Procurement?

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2010/20101105en.html#en46395

Power Reactor    Event Number: 46395
Facility: SAN ONOFRE
Region: 4 State: CA
Unit: [ ] [2] [3]
RX Type: [1] W-3-LP,[2] CE,[3] CE
NRC Notified By: JOHN CUSTER
HQ OPS Officer: PETE SNYDER    Notification Date: 11/04/2010
Notification Time: 22:22 [ET]
Event Date: 11/04/2010
Event Time: 15:04 [PDT]
Last Update Date: 11/04/2010
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(2)(xi) - OFFSITE NOTIFICATION
   Person (Organization):
BLAIR SPITZBERG (R4DO)

Unit    SCRAM Code    RX CRIT    Initial PWR    Initial RX Mode    Current PWR    Current RX Mode
2    N    Y    99    Power Operation    99    Power Operation
3    N    N    0    Refueling    0    Refueling

Event Text
PORTAL RADIATION MONITOR ALARM ON A SCRAP SHIPMENT

"On November 4, 2010, at approximately 15:04 PDT, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) was notified that scrap circuit breakers salvaged from the SONGS warehouse had alarmed a portal radiation monitor at a metal recycling facility in Los Angeles County. The monitor indicated a reading approximately 40% above background levels. Naturally occurring isotopes in the circuit breakers are suspected to have alarmed the portal monitor. The metal recycling vendor (Alpert and Alpert) called the Los Angeles branch of the California Department of Environmental Health, Radiological Management (Jeff Day) to obtain a special permit authorizing the return shipment to SCE.

"SCE is reporting this event in accordance with 10CFR50.72(b)(2)(xi).

"At the time of this report, Unit 2 was operating at 100% power and Unit 3 is defueled."

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

[MeterSwangin]

"At the time of this report, Unit 2 was operating at 100% power and Unit 3 is defueled."

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.[/i]


[/quote]

NORM in a breaker.  HydroTroll sez shut it down and burn coal.  Get a life.

[MacGyver]

NORM in a breaker.  HydroTroll sez shut it down and burn coal.  Get a life.

So this breaker event is "normal" {aka "norm", sic}?  Are you serious or are you just "trolling"?

[roadhp]

NORM = Normally Occurring Radioactive Material

[MeterSwangin]

So this breaker event is "normal" {aka "norm", sic}?  Are you serious or are you just "trolling"?

NORM is very normal.  Especially for utilities.  Ceramic insulators go with high voltage......

[Marlin]

NORM is very normal.  Especially for utilities.  Ceramic insulators go with high voltage......

   I have had to do some dumpster diving to retrieve some of those insulators from a non radioactive load to a landfill with an incoming radiation monitor. Pea gravel, vitrified clay brick and number of other building materials have NORM in them. At Clinton Power Station during baseline surveys the highest background was from the red brick guardhouse, Guess where the portal monitors for SNM were placed.

Am I on topic or do I have to moderate myself.   

[Rennhack]

NORM = Normally Occurring Radioactive Material

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturally_occurring_radioactive_material


NORM is not federally regulated in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has jurisdiction over a relatively narrow spectrum of radiation, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has jurisdiction over NORM and has never developed NORM regulations. Therefore, this responsibility befalls the states. Since no government entity has implemented regulations, then states may choose the stringency or lax of the regulations. There are currently 50 states where NORM is known to exist.

[Rennhack]

Sorry for not understanding you correctly.  You are absolutely correct, Marlin (and others) do seem to stray from time to time.  I on the other hand, never do! 

Sorry!  I deserve a serious  I promise to do better.

We call that posting for points.  You have nothing valuable to add to the topic, and you know you are off topic, yet you post anyways, just to see your post count go up.

Read the Rules thread http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,4700.msg122119.html#msg122119 and look at #5 in the 'extended' rules, i.e. the "How To Behave On An Internet Forum" section.

      Step 5: Post Count

      Every time you post, your post count goes up by one. Some people seem to think that the higher the post count, the more worthy and valuable they are to society at large. Frankly, the exact opposite seems to be the case; posting just to up your count is insanely annoying, so make sure all your messages add to a discussion in some way. If you're replying in a thread, make sure what you're writing is funny, interesting or funny and interesting. "yeh i agree LOL" is not, in any way, shape or form, a valid reply, ever.

[MacGyver]

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturally_occurring_radioactive_material


NORM is not federally regulated in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has jurisdiction over a relatively narrow spectrum of radiation, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has jurisdiction over NORM and has never developed NORM regulations. Therefore, this responsibility befalls the states. Since no government entity has implemented regulations, then states may choose the stringency or lax of the regulations. There are currently 50 states where NORM is known to exist.

Thank you Mike (and the rest).



But this is funny:

Are you freaking serious?!  ?  I'm not allowed to play?  Again, ?!
Did you not read my post saying I NEVER did that?  ?!?!?!

Do you remember our mom's saying if you make that face it would stick?

[The People]

EASILY the worst plant I have been to.

EASILY the worst HP Department I have seen.

EASILY the worst Procedures I have tried to follow.

SONGS really is in trouble and you know what?... I don't even feel sorry for them!  I maybe would if they were willing to accept just how screwed up they are, but the level of both ignorance AND arrogance around the plant is astounding.

So they just dumped literally THOUSANDS of gallons of contaminated water from the RWST into their Aux Feed Water Tunnel.  About 2 to 3 feet deep in there!  Not to mention the fact there were people in there when the water started coming in who had a "limited means of egress".  Now, if that was the only incident (or maybe even just one of two or three) you could say, "Well, stuff happens"... but it's not!

Almost daily, the Security Dept has failing equipment, resulting in long lines of people trying to get in to the plant.  If it's not the hand-geometry readers it's the X-Ray machines.  If it's not those it's the turnstiles at the parking lot.  If it's not those, it's the vehicle bollards.  If it's not those it's the "Heavy Blocking Vehicles" that they put in place of the broken bollards not being able to move, as the batteries are dead... I could go on.  We're not talking lines that take 30 mins to get into work, oh no... we're talking lines of people that take THREE HOURS to get into the PA!!

The Ops Dept has had their wrists slapped by INPO... as has Training.

The HP Dept is the weakest I've seen, with absolutely no balls whatsoever!  "Service Organization" is what they say.  No plans for work to be carried out, no briefs for big evolutions, absolutely NO communication, people in positions who have no right being there... I could go on and on and on and on.

Procedures are open to interpretation.  How can you follow a document VERBATIM that is "open to interpretation"?

Injuries are a daily occurrence at SONGS.  It was the same last year.

Dropped items are also a daily occurrence - it's genuinely amazing and downright LUCKY that they have not killed anyone with a falling object YET!  Again, it was the same last year.

Their "Nuclear Notification" program is an absolute joke.  It is impossible to weed out the important notifications that may have issues that need addressed, due to the literally HUNDREDS of DAILY notifications written about people being late to a training class, or not holding the handrail while ascending the stairs, or someone picking their nose while walking, or not wiping their butt after going to the bathroom etc etc.  On that same subject, there is little to NO feedback on notifications submitted.

Management is obviously failing.  They have no idea what they're doing but the good ol' boy/surfer dude routine is alive and well at SONGS.

In my opinion (using my right to free speech) the best thing that could happen to this place is to remove everyone from General Foreman positions and up (and a large amount of Supervisor positions) and bring in a new owner.  Closing the plant down is an option, but I'd love to see the smug looks wiped off the faces of the Edison management when they see another Utility Company SUCCESSFULLY running their plant!

Avoid!

[MeterSwangin]

Avoid!
[/quote]

My 14th plant.  Good RP team.  Sharp people, treat us right, good equipment and facilities.  Fairly low dose rates, nobody needs a respirator, excellent rad work plan task guides borrowed from Diablo SGR.  BK, Gooch, Eli, Kato all here.

I guess you see what you want to.................

[The People]

I guess you see what you want to.................

Yes, YOU do seem to only see what YOU want to.

Take a poll of the Bartlett Techs that are here this outage and see how many DON'T repeat the words, "This place is f---ed up!"

We all have different opinions on all sorts of things, but if you genuinely believe this is a top place to work then so be it - you can have it! 

I don't know which part of your post was the funniest.  I can't decide between "Good RP team"; "Sharp people" or "excellent rad work plan task guides".  If you think the task guides are excellent then you may want to ask why SONGS doesn't actually FOLLOW these "excellent" plans.  Having them printed out on paper is not good enough - you actually have to follow them for them to work!

How many items have been sent outside with smearable contamination on them?  I've heard of 3 so far.

How many dropped items have almost killed someone?  I believe the last one (a day after the site-wide stand down) was a 3 foot pry bar from the top of Rigging International's Lift System... I guess it's only about 100+ feet. 

How many PCEs so far?

How many First Aid Events?

How many Lost Time Accidents?

How many OSHA Recordables?

How many near misses?

This plant is a time-bomb and sadly, it's only a matter of time before they kill someone with their ineptitude!  I just hope you see the light and move on before it happens to you.

[HydroDave63]

I guess you see what you want to.................

And that list would include 38% of the votes on this thread, the hundreds of former employees that have left, and the NRC...

Nice.  Consistent! 

OPPD's CNO liked SONGS so much he now runs the place.  Been there 2 years, got the big ship turning.

well, at least Centimeter²Swangin can spot talent. Yes, your hero got the ship turning all right, I believe that's called a 15 degree down bubble, watch out for the continental shelf only a couple miles to the west!  After some previous years of the wreck-it-and-run management style, is it wonder that the previous plant you mention is now in Column III ?!?

...treat us right...

Some might disagree...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/03/feds-want-safety-gains-at-power-plant/

Chillin' like a villain, all righty


If you enjoy reading dockets to US Dept. of Labor

For any readers who are not Centimeter²Swangin, please understand that posters aren't motivated by seeing anyone fail. We want SONGS to succeed. We want the owners to succeed. Heck, we even want to see the mascot succeed! Just tired of seeing people in denial at troubled plants that don't understand that complacency has consequences. How many people thought that a couple dozen people not wearing shirts on shift would unemploy a couple thousand? Or got a giggle when that control room rewiring project had control elements moving the wrong way? Wouldn't we rather be celebrating 40 years of nuclear steam at Humboldt, rather than D&D?

[The People]

Wow.  The performance you have described in your last two posts is exactly why the list of folks who would starve before returning to SONGS is longer than the list of those willing to endure.  Most importantly, these behaviors eventually will spill over into other areas and threaten nuclear safety, and that trumps all.

Good luck Mr. Dietrich, you will need it.

They say, "Never say never" so I won't go as far as to say I will "never" return to SONGS, but I sure as hell will try to avoid it!

[MeterSwangin]

They say, "Never say never" so I won't go as far as to say I will "never" return to SONGS, but I sure as hell will try to avoid it!

So unhappy.  Need any help finding the door? 

Knew lots of guys like this in the Navy.  "Navy sucks, I hate this, everybody is stupid..."  They they reupped, got fat, resumed complaining.

[Rennhack]

Topic is SONGS.

[Ikesss]

I agree...on the way out. There are a lot more screwed up plants out there...

quote author=MeterSwangin link=topic=862.msg133801#msg133801 date=1290302423]
So unhappy.  Need any help finding the door? 

Knew lots of guys like this in the Navy.  "Navy sucks, I hate this, everybody is stupid..."  They they reupped, got fat, resumed complaining.
[/quote]

[Brett LaVigne]

Avoid!


My 14th plant.  Good RP team.  Sharp people, treat us right, good equipment and facilities.  Fairly low dose rates, nobody needs a respirator, excellent rad work plan task guides borrowed from Diablo SGR.  BK, Gooch, Eli, Kato all here.

I guess you see what you want to.................

You really need to be in Washington! It is amazing how you have defended this plant tooth and nail for so long. After so many first hand accounts of how broken this plant is, you never admit it and in fact defend it as being a model plant. You, and your fantasy about how great SONGS is...is the exact thing everyone is talking about. It is the exact thing that prevents SONGS from being better. Through story after story of a horribly managed facility, and NRC smack down after NRC smack down you continue to argue how great you are...it is amazing!!!

I guess nobody could accuse you of being a fair-weather fan!

[nuclearnavajo]

I have enjoyed the outage so far. Its been SNAFU, but its an SGRP. They remind me of a kid that tries so hard to make things right, but only digs themselves deeper in. Just because they are INPO 4, doesn't mean I am!

[Longtime Nuke]

Through story after story of a horribly managed facility, and NRC smack down after NRC smack down

I really can't agree.  This is not a horribly managed facility, and the NRC has not used anything approaching those terms. 

My wife and I have been very well treated here and will come back next outage.

It seems unfair to make sport of bashing a place with uninformed generalities.