Nuclear Strategic Alliance for FLEX Emergency Response SAFER (NOT): Depends on Emergency Resources which may be Needed Elsewhere-Unavailable

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airlift, AREVA, backup generators, dangers of nuclear, FLEX, flooding, France, Grand Gulf, Helicopter, Katrina, Louisiana, Memphis, Memphis Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi River, National Guard, natural disasters, New Madrid, nuclear accident, nuclear backup generators, nuclear industry, nuclear power, nuclear reactors, PEICo, Phoenix, radiation, rescue operation, risk management, Riverbend, SAFER, SAFER NOT, search and rescue, Strategic Alliance for FLEX Emergency Response, Three Stooges, US Air Force, US military, US NRC, water, Waterford

“The first tier of the SAFER plan is established through PEICo contracts with commercial heavy-lift helicopter vendors for “first call out of services.” With this type of contract, the vendors are not obligated to support SAFER’s response, and helicopter availability is dependent on the utilization and deployment location of the vendor’s fleet of helicopters at the time the request is made. …”

“The second tier of the SAFER plan is to request State helicopter resources (National Guard or other) via the site’s State emergency response organizations…

The third tier of helicopter support is for the site to request Federal helicopter resources…” (See more below.)

All of the above may have other priorities, such as rescuing people and air-lifting to medical facilities. This is especially true for the National Guard and Military. Precious time will be wasted calling the vendors. The utilities should have their own helicopters. The Memphis Center may be badly impacted by a New Madrid Earthquake, too.

National Guard and Military’s Job is to Save People in an Emergency, and Not Save Utilities. Nuclear utilities have plenty of money to buy their own helicopters.

Says the NRC Blog: “Part of the U.S. nuclear power industry’s response to the NRC’s post-Fukushima Mitigation Strategies Order involves emergency equipment centers in Memphis, Tenn., and Phoenix, Ariz. The centers have multiple sets of generators, pumps and other equipment. The centers would send needed equipment to a U.S. nuclear plant to maintain safety functions indefinitely if an event disabled that plant’s installed safety systems.

The NRC’s been reviewing how an industry group, the Strategic Alliance for FLEX Emergency Response (SAFER), can move equipment from the response centers to plants… Overall, the NRC staff concludes that having the response centers and the group’s plans and procedures in place will enable plants to comply with the final phase of the Order.” “Making Sure SAFER Resources Are Ready To Go“, October 16, 2014, by Jack Davis. http://public-blog.nrc-gateway. gov/2014/10/16/making-sure-safer-resources-are-ready-to-go/

Who is operating the new back-up “SAFER” program but French State owned AREVA, in conjunction with PEICo. AREVA would be long defunct, if it were not for being propped up by French tax monies. Their backup plan, it turns out, is to rely on US State and Federal mililtary. Glancing through the US NRC “evaluation” of the program is not reassuring. It is stressfully reminiscent of the Three Stooges.http://youtu.be/C6q37n7GDCY, as detailed further below. So, why even hire AREVA-PEICo in the first place? In a major emergency State and Federal military need to be focused on other things. That’s theoretically the whole point in hiring AREVA-PEICo isn’t it? There are even major gas pipelines running through the region, which may require help from military and could impact Memphis SAFER itself.

Excerpts re SAFER AREVA (NOT)

“SAFER is comprised of a partnership between Pooled Equipment Inventory Company (PEICo) and AREVA, Inc… SAFER established and maintains two diverse and redundant equipment storage facilities identified as the National SAFER Response Centers (NSRCs). These NSRCs are located in Memphis, TN and Phoenix (Tolleson), AZ. The NSRCs contain portable equipment such as portable generators, portable pumps, hoses, and other supporting equipment (as described in the white paper) to be used by licensees to meet Phase 3 requirements of the order. SAFER has established plans, in part through contracts with Federal Express Custom Critical (FedEx Custom Critical or FCC) and commercial heavy-lift helicopter operators, to allow either one of the NSRCs to provide this equipment to any nuclear power plant in the United States. SAFER has also established two redundant SAFER Control Centers (SCCs) in Lynchburg, VA (primary) and Birmingham, AL (alternate) that will be manned and operated to coordinate the SAFER response for any such event.

In reviewing SAFER’s plans, NRC staff sought reasonable assurance that SAFER is capable of delivering the Phase 3 equipment within the time needed to support the licensees’ Integrated Plans, including delivery to a regional area potentially impacted by the BDBEE.” [BDBEE must mean Beyond Design Basis Emergency Event]
[…]
“During the demonstrations, NRC staff noted instances where the SAFER roles and responsibilities were not clear to the licensee… The NRC staff also reviewed an AREVA report titled “Regional Response Center Project: FedEx Memphis – Trip Report.” This report documented transportation of seven flatbed trailers with equipment from the Memphis NSRC to the Memphis Fed Ex hub. This was a timed exercise that tested the response center shipping procedures and was used to 1) validate and optimize packaging configuration for loading the SAFER equipment onto a FedEx plane, and 2) verify and streamline the timing sequence and planning assumptions for the SAFER Response Plans. The report provided details of the timed events and described lessons learned from the operation. Most notably, the report documented that it took 9.5 hours from event initiation to load and prepare the plane for departure. With the longest flight time from either NSRC to the farthest approved destination airport, this would result in a total delivery time to the destination airport of 14 hours, 18 minutes- 18 minutes longer than assumed necessary in the SAFER Response Plans. This is the time determined for delivery to the regional airport near the site and does not include movement to the offsite staging area or delivery to the site…”

“The first tier of the SAFER plan is established through PEICo contracts with commercial heavy-lift helicopter vendors for “first call out of services.” With this type of contract, the vendors are not obligated to support SAFER’s response, and helicopter availability is dependent on the utilization and deployment location of the vendor’s fleet of helicopters at the time the request is made. For this reason, SAFER has contracted with multiple vendors and has committed to maintain and annually update the list of vendors that can provide the needed capability. The NRC staff questioned SAFER regarding the location of the helicopter vendors, number and operating areas of the helicopters, and the likelihood of availability of the contracted helicopters. SAFER provided additional information regarding the location and fleet sizes of five commercial helicopter vendors, with which they have, or are in the process of executing contracts…” [So, they are going to spend all their time calling “vendors” who may refuse them in an emergency if someone else pays more or may not be available. And, so they will count on the State and Federal government to do what SAFER’s supposed to do! In an emergency the State and Federal government might be unavailable.]

“The second tier of the SAFER plan is to request State helicopter resources (National Guard or other) via the site’s State emergency response organizations…

The third tier of helicopter support is for the site to request Federal helicopter resources…” [This all loses precious time and sounds planned to be goofy!]

“In summary, while no single helicopter vendor, or any one tier of the SAFER plan for requesting helicopter support is individually assured of providing helicopter resources to support 24-hour delivery time of SAFER equipment, SAFER … approach of having multiple vendors and multiple tiers…”
[The State and Federal government’s aren’t vendors! Are they “tiers”?]

[The pumps can’t pump saltwater or brackish water so they will just put a little note?]
“The NRC staff reviewed the ETRD with regard to the design criteria for the HP/LF Pump, SG/RPV Makeup Pump, LP/MF Pump, LP/HF Pump, and the mechanical connections and associated hoses. During its audit, the NRC staff sought clarification from SAFER regarding the ability of the HP/LF pump to take suction from a salt or brackish water source. This pump is constructed of materials suitable for deionized or borated water sources. SAFER stated, and AREVA updated the ETRD (in Revision 11) to notify licensees, that “It is not intended for this pump to be used with salt/brackish water suction source. The unit will pump saltwater and suction strainers are provided[;] however, saltwater has not been evaluated to determine if any performance degradation will occur over time.” By inclusion of this note, licensees are informed of this potential limitation on the use of this equipment and can plan for the limitation in the site-specific Integrated Plans…”

[AREVA – SAFER expected nuclear sites to supply fuel!]
“During its audit, the NRC staff sought clarification from SAFER regarding diesel fuel oil supplies for Phase 3 equipment. Specifically, the staff sought clarification on who would be responsible for providing fuel for Phase 3 equipment and the ability of the Phase 3 equipment to run on a variety of fuel oil sulfur levels (e.g., low-sulfur versus ultra-low-sulfur). SAFER stated that the sites are responsible for all fueling of Phase 2 and Phase 3 equipment. However, if the site is not accessible by land, SAFER will provide a 500-gallon fuel bladder that can be transported by helicopter with fuel. In the case where this fuel transfer would be needed, SAFER would continue to fly fuel into the site from the SAFER offsite staging area as long as needed…” http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1426/ML14265A107.pdf

They mention Katrina… Anyone in North America should be alarmed by these and more goofy stupidities.
See more about SAFER and the New Madrid here: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/nuclear-safer-not-nuclear-emergency-backup-in-heart-of-new-madrid-quake-zone/

Especially as the floodwaters of the mighty Mississippi roll down to the Gulf of Mexico, passing nuclear reactors along the way, people should be worried.

After Hurricane Katrina:

“A week after landfall, Air Force personnel in the area numbered nearly 8,000 active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reservists.

Air Force helicopters played a key role during relief operations, particularly in New Orleans, where they not only flew damage assessment teams into ravaged areas, but also performed extensive search and rescue operations. Using MH-53 Pave Low, HH-60 Pavehawk, and UH-1 helicopters from bases across the country, the Air Force rescued 4,322 people. In one day, the members of the 347th Expeditionary Rescue Group rescued 791 people. In addition to rescuing survivors, the Air Force deployed Air National Guard Expeditionary Medical Support (EMEDS) teams for the first time in a domestic crisis. EMEDS teams were set up in New Orleans, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Hancock County, Mississippi….

Hurricane Katrina, with winds as high as 140 miles per hour, made landfall near Buras, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, devastating parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama with storm surge as high as 25 feet. The dense population of New Orleans was hardest hit, and failures of floodwalls and levees left approximately 80 percent of the city flooded for weeks, leaving nearly 100,000 residents struggling to survive as they awaited rescue. As this major humanitarian crisis unfolded, the Department of Defense, including the U.S. Air Force, responded.

The U.S. Air Force responded prior to Katrina’s landfall with WC-130 weather reconnaissance aircraft. The Air Force Reserve Command’s 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron helped track the storm and measure its intensity as it swirled in the Gulf of Mexico. The “Hurricane Hunters” logged more than 109 flight hours between August 23 and 29. After Katrina’s landfall, the Department of Defense established Joint Task Force Katrina at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, under the command of Lt. Gen. Russell L. Honore. Air Force Maj. Gen. M. Scott Mayes, Commander of First Air Force, served as the Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC), and established the 1st Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force-Katrina at Tyndall AFB, Florida, which oversaw several air expeditionary groups…” http://www.afhso.af.mil/topics/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=18651