Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we kick off the last week of summer, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week.
IAEA director Grossi visits embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week visited Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant amid reports that it had again become the site of a skirmish between Kiev and invading Russian forces.
“We are establishing a continued presence from the IAEA here,” director-general Rafael Grossi said in a video posted from his Twitter account Thursday. Grossi led the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog’s delegation to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in eastern Ukraine.
Concern about the safety of the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant grew in recent days as shelling in the area reportedly hit near some buildings at the facility, according to a Sunday report from IAEA. Shells fell within 100 meters of the reactor building, the report said.
Despite the damage, all safety systems remain in place and there has been no increase in radiation on-site, IAEA said.
Russian forces, which invaded Ukraine in February, have controlled Zaporizhzhia since early March. A team of Ukrainian staff currently operates the plant, which remains connected to the power grid.
Entergy employee rescues child stranded in river
An Entergy nuclear plant employee last month saved a six-year-old boy who had become stranded in the Arkansas River, the utility said in a press release this week.
Greg Widner, a security officer at Entergy’s Arkansas Nuclear One nuclear power plant, helped to rescue the child July 26 after he heard a call from local authorities on a police scanner, according to the Monday press release.
Widner, also a volunteer firefighter, worked with the local fire department in Dardanelle, Ark., to pull the child out of the river.
According to local authorities, the child, who has autism, was at a riverside park with his grandmother when she suffered a heart attack. The six-year-old waded into the water and floated nearly a mile downstream.
Obituary: Vernon Haywood (1950-2022)
Vernon Haywood, a former inspector with engineering firm Bechtel who worked at several nuclear power plants during his career, passed away unexpectedly on July. 7, the LA Daily Post reported this week. He was 72.
Haywood, whose career at Bechtel spanned 45 years, primarily conducted inspections and validation of pipe installations, plant maintenance planning, and commissioning of equipment and plant systems. His work took him to San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California, Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Arizona, and Wisconsin’s Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant.
After retiring from Bechtel in 2019, Haywood worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico under contractor TRIAD National Security until his final retirement in May 2022.
A Los Alamos native, Haywood earned a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona.
