Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate......

Elephants Gerald!

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:47:26 PST

So, you might wonder what a "Belgian waffle topped with Vanilla Ice Cream, Pecans in Syrup, and dusted with Cinnamon" looks like...

From Blogger Pictures

I have to say that this tasted phenomenal!

Aretha Frankenstein's

After a fine dinner at Bea's on Sunday night....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:20:38 PST

Breakfast is gonna be at Aretha Frankenstein's. See more in a Food Network video ($40 A Day with Rachael Ray) about their "Waffle of Insane Greatness!" here...

I think I'll be getting the Elephants Gerald...

I think I'll be hitting the treadmill while I stay up all night! Peace, y'all!

OK, so most folks are familiar with the Japanese steakhouse seating arrangement where you could be sitting right next to the grill with strangers...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:29:22 PST

What about a similar setup applied to some good old Southern cooking? If you're ever up in Chattanooga and you're REALLY hungry for some good Southern food (pulled pork, fried chicken, roast beef in brown gravy, potatoes, cole slaw, potato salad, and more) AYCE-style, check out Bea's Restaurant!

View Larger Map

All of the food is set up on a lazy Susan in small serving dishes. You pick what you want and if you need more, one of the nice folks who work there will likely be out with it pretty quickly. The only readily available beverages are water or sweet tea. There are soda machines when you walk in the door if you have to get that fix. Plus, they offered coffee several times. Check this place out! It's been around since 1950. Keep it going for another 60 years!

Well.....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:37:24 PST

V was pretty good and it looks like it will get even better through through the rest of the season. I hope that it can live up to the hype. I haven't seen FlashForward recently. I need to change that. Been too busy to watch much television.

If you ever find yourself up in Chattanooga (especially near Hamilton Place mall) and you've got a hankering for some good Greek food, check out The Acropolis Grill. The food was great (and served amazingly quick). I've had slower service at fast food places. Plus, the baklava was some of the best that I have ever had!

I suppose that eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia FroYo afterward wasn't necessary. But it sure was tasty!

NRC documents from ADAMS regarding Browns Ferry for 10/19/09 - 11/01/09:

10/19/09-10/25/09

Unit 2

Browns Ferry, Unit 2 - Response to NRC Request for Additional Information for Third 10-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Plan, Relief Request 2-ISI-19, Revision 1.

10/26/09-11/01/09

Unit 1 and sitewide

Browns Ferry Release of OI Synopsis 2-2009-017.

LER 09-004-00 for Browns Ferry Unit 1, re: High Pressure Core Injection Found Inoperable During Compensate Header Level Switch Calibration and Functional Test.

License Amendment Request for Adoption of TSTF-511, Revision 0, "Eliminate Working Hour Restrictions From TS 5.2.2 to Support Compliance With 10 CFR Part 26" - Browns Ferry TS Change 469; Sequoyah Change 09-04; and Watts Change 09-19.

Lest we forget....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:46:41 PST

ABC tonight - 8/7C

V

It's been a fairly busy week....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:23:40 PDT

And I didn't have a great deal to say. Come to think of it, I still don't. However...

Just two documents covering Browns Ferry added by the NRC to ADAMS last week. Here they are:

Bellefonte and Sequoyah, Units 1 & 2; Browns, Units 1, 2, & 3 and Watts, Units 1 & 2 - Nuclear Quality Assurance Plan, TVA-NQA-PLN89-A.
Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2 & 3; Sequoyah, Units 1 & 2 and Watts, Unit 1 - Decommissioning Funding Assurance - Additional Information.

Heck, I think I'll make this an information link post. Check out the many thousands of pages of the Congressional Record for 2009. There's often a lot of interesting info available. At the top portion of the links by date section, you will see that you can search the publication or view the latest daily digest. I'll often search the record by the Congressional delegation for Alabama to see what they have been saying...

Perhaps a few recent CRS Reports are more up your alley...

Can't think of much else to say, so y'all have a blast!

Not overly exciting for a couple of days off....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:07:06 PDT

I'm just chilling and doing mundane stuff (e.g. laundry and such). I did get the equivalent of about 5k on the treadmill this afternoon. That, as always, was a blast....

Speaking of running....

I will find myself at work this weekend, but there's a run worth attending if you can. I am talking about The 6th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run. It should be dry but cool that morning. Check it out if you can.

It's been some time since I looked at what the Library of Congress had to offer in the way of RSS feeds. From what I remember the last time I looked, the amount of information that can be a click away for you has doubled. Some other interesting information funded by your tax dollars can be found at USA.gov's Reference Center and General Government portal. One nifty example? The FBI's 10 Most Wanted Widget:

OK, one last bit of information geekiness here. The NRC only had two submissions to its ADAMS system regarding Browns Ferry for the week of 10/5/09-10/11/09. Here they are:

Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2 and 3 - Acknowledgement Receipt of Letter Regarding Revised Schedule for Extended Power Uprate Review.

Brown Ferry, Units 1, 2, & 3, Response to Request for Additional Information (RAI) Concerning Fire Protection Three-Unit Operation Amendment and Exemption Request.

Peace, y'all!

Random miscellanea for today....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:46:48 PDT

I'm back on the schedule for working nights now. That starts tomorrow night. Hence, today has been a fairly lazy day. I'll do my sweating later on....

The afternoon began with a quick trip into Huntsville for a visitation. Y'all have our continuing condolences...

On the way home, my sweet tooth got the better of me. We stopped by the Cinnabon place in Madison Square Mall to pick up a post-dinner dessert. I really need to get my sweat on after eating one of these...

After dinner, we watched our standard complement of Thursday evening shows. ABC's (the network showing FlashForward) running a serious ad blitz for V. The show looks like it has promise. I remember watching V regularly back in the '80s....

Zzaj put out Issue 95 of ImprovijazzationNation recently. Check that out! Or this:

I was going to post last night, but I just didn't feel up to it. Yesterday was the 8th anniversary of American forces being in Afghanistan. There were a lot of mistakes made before we went in this time (all the way back to that putz Reagan). There were mistakes made in the implementation of us going in this time. And there have been plenty of mistakes made since then. I realize that folks are inclined to call my opinions "armchair quarterbacking" and sniping and griping (some of the nicer things folks can say or have said). Those folks are probably right, but sorry, they are my opinions. Most (if not all) of the mistakes are those made by the civilian leadership of the armed forces. To this day, I still believe that we never had the amount of force necessary to accomplish the nebulous mission we set forth for our troops in Afghanistan. That was partially a result of Iraq and partially a result of military transformation among plenty of other things. Some of those things were beyond the control of anyone. Others were not. I wish ALL of our military everywhere the best and hope that they can come home safely as quickly as conditions allow. I hope that those in charge can make more right decisions than wrong ones.

Hmmmm, where to begin?

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:04:14 PDT

So, I'm in the middle of a seven day stretch off of work. I've had a few chances to work OT, but I've been otherwise occupied. Friday and Saturday were right out. Suzy had business to attend to in Boaz on those days (btw, you can see her waaaay in the background in the first picture on page 11 of those pictures). We stopped to eat on the way home both nights. Friday night involved a fairly standard pizza buffet. Saturday night we tried Wintzell's Oyster House in Guntersville. I had heard some good and some bad opinions beforehand. Bad reviews notwithstanding, we liked it! Plus, Wintzell's is supposed to be coming to Huntsville in December. Yesterday was a day to work out. That started at 6 AM with my best friend. We all went to eat breakfast after that. Yesterday afternoon was reserved for time on the elliptical machine. Today has been mainly recovery time from a busy weekend. That was interrupted, of course, by an hour and a half of exercising. I really love to sweat...

We'll see what the rest of the week will hold. I know that I'm looking forward to trying something new for dinner tomorrow night...

Since I was slack about posting last week, the past two weeks of ADAMS info for Browns Ferry can be viewed by click "read more" below...

U1 & sitewide

1. Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, & 3, Revised Schedule for Extended Power Uprate Amendment Request Review.

2. Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, and 3, Sequoyah, Units 1 and 2, Watts Bar, Units 1 and 2, Bellefonte, Units 1 and 2, Change to Correspondence Addressee and Service List Update.

3. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1, 2 & 3; Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 & 2; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 & 2; and Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Units 1 & 2 - Submission of Revision 20 to Tennessee Valley Authority Nuclear Quality Assurance Plan.

4. Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, and 3, Sequoyah, Units 1 and 2, Watts Bar, Units 1 and 2, Submittal of Report in Accordance with 10 CFR 26.719(c)(1) for Drug and Alcohol Testing Errors.

5. Browns Ferry Office of Investigations Case Number 2-2009-006 Synopsis Release.

6. Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, & 3, Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Generic Letter 2008-01, Managing Gas Accumulation in Emergency Core Cooling, Decay Heat Removal, and Containment Spray Systems.

U2

1. LER 09-005-00 for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 2, re: Reactor Motor Operated Valve Board 2D & Residual Heat Removal Subsystem Inoperable Longer Than Allowed by the Plant's Technical Specifications.

2. Browns Ferry, Unit 2, Nine-Month Supplemental (Post-Outage) Response to NRC Generic Letter 2008-01: Managing Gas Accumulation in Emergency Core Cooling, Decay Heat Removal, and Containment Spray Systems.

3. Browns Ferry, Unit 2, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Section Xl, Inservice Inspection, System Pressure Test, Containment Inspection, and Repair and Replacement Programs - Summary Report for Cycle 15 Operation.

U3

Nothing additional

I hate to toot my own horn, but...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:26:57 PDT

This is a milestone post. Number 500! That doesn't include the original blog I maintained.

Blasts from the past:

Check out a sneak peek of a retooling of the V miniseries from the 80s:

The new V begins on 11/3/09.

As for new shows, check out this clip from FlashForward:

I've never watched a lot of stuff from ABC (or CBS for that matter). However, this is a pretty cool new show!

We were entertaining the idea of checking out our best friends' boy's soccer game this morning. However, all games were canceled. It's all about the rain. We've had TOO much. See?


From Blogger Pictures

Last night, I was jonesing for something sweet. I didn't feel like going out to buy anything, so I improvised with ingredients that I had on hand. Here's a picture of the "bread pudding" I made last night. I put that in quotes because I didn't use any kind of recipe. Come to find out, most (if not all) recipes use eggs to make a custard-like consistency. Mine is just kind of a gloppy mess. But, it tastes REALLY good! It should with most of a stick of butter and about a cup and a half of sugar (a mix of brown and granulated). Check it out:

From Blogger Pictures

I don't watch a lot of TV....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:28:00 PDT

Most important matter at hand?

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:39:58 PDT

Happy Birthday Daddy-o!

Next? The new season of House, M.D. begins tonight!

More later....

Where was Joe Wilson.....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:54:59 PDT

in the wrangling over the "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act" (MMA)? We were discussing the "health care reform" at work today and I pointed out that I didn't recall financial conservatives being as rabid in 2003 (regarding the aforementioned MMA) as they have been this go-around. There was definite debate over MMA, but it didn't seem like this. Add to that the fact that some folks in the Bush Administration covered the true costs up to appease the financial conservatives. The conservatives came around when promised that the 10-year costs of the measure wouldn't exceed $400 billion. At last glance, that number was nearer to $1.2 trillion.

My silence is deafening.....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:14:32 PDT

Hmmm, where to start?

In starting, I'd like to recall and remember the victims and families and generally the United States on the approaching 8th anniversary of 9/11.

Zzaj recently posted Issue 94 of Improvijazzation Nation. I don't remember if I posted the link to Issue 93 up here, so here it is.

I've been somewhat silent about politics here this year. My views still haven't changed (I'm still a raging Libertarian), but it really doesn't matter which of the two big parties holds power. They'll both still find a way to screw things up. That being said, I didn't vote for the individual in office right now. However, I find it sad that the right and left are so polarized that an innocuous "Do well in school!" message caused such an uproar. I find it sad that some parents were considering (and probably did) holding their kids out of school over THIS! This country is going to be consumed by extreme partisan politics....

The Secrecy News section of the Federation of American Scientists site had some new and interesting CRS reports on 9/1 and 9/10.

Not my video, but here's "Techno Viking vs. Feindflug":

In closing, I'll include the NRC postings to ADAMS for 8/31/09 to 9/6/09. If you're interested, click "read more" below to see this information. I'm including that info in the full post only so the main page you are reading isn't as cluttered.

NRC info added to ADAMS regarding Browns Ferry during the week of 8/31/09 to 9/6/09:

U1 & sitewide

1. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 - Withdrawal of an Amendment Request Concerning Extension of Emergency Diesel Generator Allowed Out of Service Time (TAC Nos. ME1515, ME1516, and ME1517).

2. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 - Request for Additional Information for Extended Power Uprate - Round 26 (TAC No. MD5262) (TS-431).

3. LER 09-003-00 for Browns Ferry, Unit 1 Regarding A Train Standby Gas Treatment System Inoperable Longer Than Allowed By The Technical Specifications.

4. IR 05000259-06-016 on 09/25-29/2006 for Tennessee Valley Authority, Browns Ferry, Unit 1, Recovery Special Program for Fire Protection.

5. Browns Ferry Inspection/Activity Plan 09/01/2009 - 12/31/2010.

6. Mid-Cycle Performance Review and Inspection Plan - Browns Ferry Nuclear Station Units 1, 2 and 3.

7. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 - Extended Power Uprate Steam Dryer August 7, 2009, Conference Call (TAC No. MD5262).

8. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant - NRC Security Inspection Report 05000259-09-403, 05000260-09-403 & 05000296-09-403.

9. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 - Request for Withholding Information From Public Disclosure for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (TAC Nos. MD5262, MD5263, and MD5264).

10. 08/07/2009 TVA Conference Call Presentation Slides on Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 Steam Dryer Analysis.

U2 & U3

Nothing additional

Been a bit of silence here, eh?

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:06:11 PDT

I'll start with the material added to the NRC's ADAMS site concerning Browns Ferry over that past TWO weeks:

U1 & sitewide

Letter from R. M. Krich Regarding New Point of Contact for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 - License Amendment, The Amendments Revise the Technical Specifications (TSs) to Adopt the Content of Technical Specification Task Force (TSTF) Change Traveler TSTF-448, Revision 3, Control Room Habitability.

Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, and 3 - Technical Specifications Changes TS-431 and TS-418 - Extended Power Uprate - Response to Round 25 - Request for Additional Information - SCVB-82 Through SCVB-86 and Replacement Documentation.

IR 05000259-09-006, 05000260-09-006 and 05000296-09-006; 5/29/2009 - 6/17/2009; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3; Biennial Inspection of the Identification and Resolution of Problems.

Browns Ferry Units 1, 2 & 3, Technical Specifications Changes TS-431 and TS-418 - Extended Power Uprate - Response to Round 25 - Request for Additional Information - SCVB-82 Through SCVB-86 and Replacement Documentation.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, Technical Specifications Changes TS-431 and TS-418 - Extended Power Uprate - Response to Round 25 - Request for Additional Information - SCVB-82 Through SCVB-86 and Replacement Documentation.

Browns Ferry, Unit 1, Second 10-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Related to the Examination of Piping Weld Overlays.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1, Relief, The Second Ten-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Relate to ASME Code Case N-504-3, Alternative Rules for Repair Of Classes 1, 2, and 3 Austenitic Stainless Steel Piping ME0155.

Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, and 3 - Response to NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2009-11, Preparation and Scheduling of Operator Licensing Examinations.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, RAI, Generic Letter 2008-01, "Managing Gas Accumulation in Emergency Core Cooling, Decay Heat Removal, and Containment Spray Systems".

08/11-12/2009-Summary of Meeting re 2009 US NRC Initial Exam Development Workshop.

U2

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 - Relief Request 2-ISI-21 for the Third Ten-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Relate to the Examination of Piping Weld Overlays (TAC NO. ME1319).

LER 09-003-00 for Browns Ferry Unit 2 re: Main Steam Relief Valve As Found Setpoint Exceeded Technical Specification Lift Pressure.

LER 09-004-00 for Browns Ferry, Unit 2, Regarding Technical Specification Shutdown Due to Rise in Unidentified Drywell Leakage.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 - Request For Additional Information For Second 10-Year Interval Inservice Inspection Program Plan Relief Request 2-ISI-19 Revision 1 (TAC NO. ME0764).

Browns Ferry, Units 2 & 3 - Specifications (TS) Change TS-418 - Extended Power Uprate (EPU) - Supplemental Response to Request for Additional Information (RAI) Round 3 & 18 & Response to Round 20 Fuels Methods RAIs.

U3

Nothing additional

As noted, there wasn't anything additional for Browns Ferry Unit 3 over the past couple of weeks. However, Unit 3 did go offline a week ago. I was there when the unit went down. We were back up and running at the end of last week.

This past weekend was great. In addition to the standard exercising and hanging/dining out with friends and family, we went to a get-together with some friends in Tennessee. I'd like to say THANKS to them in this forum. We had a lot of fun. One takeaway:
When climbing a tree, it's best to make sure that the limb you are going to use is alive BEFORE you use it! No harm done. It was more shocking than painful. Plus, it'll make for good laughs years from now! Snap, THUD!!!

Speaking of laughs...

I got some out of the "Techno Viking" site. I'm closing with a video that I recently found. Totally cool!

If you're on Facebook and from the Huntsville,AL area...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:29:23 PDT

check out this FB group!!!

Where to start?

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:44:59 PDT

I'll start with the mundane and usual stuff this evening. Here's what the NRC placed in its ADAMS system for Browns Ferry for the week of 8/10/09-8/16/09:

U1 & sitewide

Technical Specifications Change Request TS-466-T - Request for One-Time Extension of Completion Time for Emergency Diesel Generators; Extension of Time to Respond to NRC Request for Supplemental Information (NRC TAC Nos. ME1515, ME1516 and ME1517).

Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, & 3, Technical Specifications Change TS-466-T - Request for One-Time Extension of Completion Time for Emergency Diesel Generators; Withdrawal of Request.

Plants Transitioning to NFPA 805.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, & 3; Sequoyah, Units 1 & 2, and Watts Bar, Unit 1 - Decommissioning Funding Assurance.

U2

LER 09-002-00 for Browns Ferry, Unit 2 Regarding Leak In An ASME Class I Code Reactor Pressure Boundary Pipe.

U3

Nothing additional

Now for the real stuff!

My best friend told me about the HiWAAY Huntsville Sprint Triathlon in late June. It was a very miniature version of a triathlon but that made it that much more tempting to take part. We ended up participating in it this past weekend (8/15). I would have liked to beat the one hour mark, but this wasn't a bad start. I ended up being 160 out of 449 folks who finished. It was fun to run!

We tried a new recipe for dinner this evening. It was called "Thai Barbecued Salmon".

Thai Barbecued Salmon Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

Shared via AddThis

Another friend of mine started a Facebook discussion (wishful) about the dinner fairy yesterday. Someone suggested that she order pizza for her family. As I understand it, she did, but she couldn't partake due to a wheat allergy. For those of y'all out there who fight that kind of problem, take a look around for these products...

One last bit of entertainment and food for thought. Check out Beloit College's Mindset List for the Class of 2013.

Peace y'all!

I just have to rave about a new recipe we tried for dinner this evening...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:22:50 PDT

We recently tried quinoa for the first time. The first time we had it, we just boiled it in stock and added a bit of seasoning. It was good but somewhat bland. The second time, I just cooked it in water. After it was ready, I added minced garlic, salt, pepper and a confetti salad mix of radish, broccoli, cauliflower and red cabbage. The second attempt was definitely more flavorful. I did some more digging and found a "Quinoa Pilaf with Pine Nuts" recipe from Food Network. Tonight, we did that up with an old standard and the results were GREAT. I highly recommend the quinoa pilaf! If you're interested in quinoa, a few more recipes can be found here and/or here.

Items about Browns Ferry added to the NRC's ADAMS site last week (8/3/09-8/9/09):

U1 & sitewide

1. FRN: General Notice. Biweekly Notice Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses Involving No Significant Hazard Condersidations.

2. Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, Watts Bar, Change to Primary Correspondence Addressee.

3. IR 05000259-09-003, 05000260-09-003 and 05000296-09-003, on 04/01/2009 - 06/30/2009, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3, Maintenance Risk Assessment, Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas, and Event Followup.

4. Ack receipt of 961011 request for approval to change QAP description & informs that based on current review schedule, review will be completed within 60 days.

5. Forwards repts prepared by regions for Employee Concerns Program,per Temporary Instruction 2500/038.

6. Forwards policy endorsed by Commission,establishing expectations for NRC staff & licensee to have open & professional communication,due to alleged inappropriate regulatory actions taken by NRC staff against licensees.

U2 & U3

Nothing additional

Ending on a funny note (not my kitty):

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Quickie here....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:57:09 PDT

Just the stuff the NRC put up for Browns Ferry last week (7/26/09 - 8/2/09):

U1 & Sitewide

Analysis of NRR Response to ACRS Memorandum Concerning the Browns Ferry Nuclear Station 105% Power Uprate.

Meeting Minutes of the ACRS Subcommittee on Plant Operation and License Renewal Regarding Browns Ferry Unit 1 Restart and License Renewal Application, September 21, 2005.

U2

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 - Request For Withholding Proprietary Information From Public Disclosure (TAC MD5263).

Browns Ferry, Unit 2 - Technical Specifications Change TS-418 - Extended Power Uprate - Unit 2 Steam Dryer Analyses.

CDI Technical Note No. 08-13NP, Rev. 1, "Limit Curve Analysis with ACM Rev. 4 for Power Ascension at Browns Ferry Nuclear Unit 2," Enclosure 6.

CDI Report No. 09-13NP, Rev. 0, "Stress Assessment of Browns Ferry Nuclear Unit 2 Steam Dryer with Steam Dam, Outer Hood and Tie-Bar Reinforcements," Page 63 through 128, Enclosure 4.

CDI Report No. 09-13NP, Rev. 0, "Stress Assessment of Browns Ferry Nuclear Unit 2 Steam Dryer with Steam Dam, Outer Hood and Tie-Bar Reinforcements," Introduction through Page 62, Enclosure 4.

CDI Report No. 08-05NP, Rev. 4, "Acoustic and Low Frequency Hydrodynamic Loads at CLTP Power Level on Browns Ferry Nuclear Unit 2 Steam Dryer to 250 Hz," Enclosure 5.

U3

Nothing additional

Navy News Service - Eye on the Fleet

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:25:30 PDT

The linked picture of 2 ships side-by-side by itself is pretty run of the mill. However, when you consider the airpower present on the flight deck of the USS George Washington, the old saying 4.5 acres of freedom is reinforced. The higher resolution picture is pretty good!

Navy News Service - Eye on the Fleet

Shared via AddThis

Thursday was an extraordinarily lazy day for me...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:06:55 PDT

But that's just fine! It all started after getting home from dinner (at Papou's) on Wednesday evening. I had grandiose plans of staying up and running on the treadmill and going to WallyWorld and whatever else would keep me up. For whatever reason, I just couldn't stay up. It probably had a bit to do with the big dinner at Papou's. The last place we had access to good Greek food was in upstate New York. I noticed Papou's last year and we just now got around to trying it. Dinner was going to start out with a couple of orders of tyropita, but they were out. We opted for the spanakopita. Tasty! For the main course, Suzanne ordered tilapia "Papou's style". Here's how the dinner menu describes "Papou's style":

"Oven Baked in Zesty Tomato Sauce, Topped with Feta Cheese"

Very good! I opted for the Papou-tesera (or as the waiter noted, "all four"). I'm a fan of Greek food and I wasn't disappointed with the standard foods (moussaka, dolmades, spanakopita and pastitso) that were included. Yum! The huge bowl of ice cream at my mom's (we stopped by to say hi) probably didn't help much.....

Anyway, after all of that, I couldn't stay up much past midnight. Then 6 AM rolled around and I actually woke up early. That's not normal for me. I was going to go back to sleep for several hours, but didn't end up getting back to sleep until 11 AM because of technology issues. After getting back up around three in the afternoon, I tried to deal with the same techie issues that had perplexed me earlier. Still no luck. Fixing my problem took me dealing with it on and off (interrupted by the treadmill and dinner and laundry) until 9 PM. At least I'm persistent...

I did all of the stuff I meant to do early Thursday morning THIS morning. That included an hour workout, a hot shower, a trip to WallyWorld and one more load of laundry.

Yeah, not necessarily exciting (the food was, try Papou's!), but that's life sometimes.

One thing I heard about that DOES sound interesting is an upcoming series (5) of classes put on by the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. Unfortunately, I won't have the time to check this out, but if you're interested and available for five Tuesday nights between September 8th and October 6th, here's where you register. Sounds kinda cool!

Plenty of stuff here...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:55:17 PDT

In starting, please feel free to check out my daddy-o's latest opus, entitled "AC, not PC":

Here are the latest CRS reports available from the Federation of American Scientists. Regarding CRS reports, a new Senate resolution has been proposed to create a public access website making most CRS reports available. The resolution was sponsored by Senator Joseph Lieberman and co-sponsored by Senators Susan M. Collins, Russell Feingold, Tom Harkin, Patrick Leahy, Richard Lugar and John McCain. What's the status? The measure was introduced (and referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration) on 4/29/2009. If you are interested in this type of information being made available to the public (your tax money makes these reports possible), consider contacting one (or more) of the Senators on the committee. Here's a list:

Senators Charles E. Schumer, Robert Bennett, Robert C. Byrd, Daniel K. Inouye, Christopher J. Dodd, Dianne Feinstein, Richard J. Durbin, E. Benjamin Nelson, Patty Murray, Mark L. Pryor, Tom Udall, Mark Warner, Mitch McConnell, Thad Cochran, Kay Bailey Hutchison, C. Saxby Chambliss, Lamar Alexander, John Ensign and Pat Roberts.

We were unhappy when Mama Fu's closed its doors in Huntsville last year. It closed with little or no notice or reason given. There's a new restaurant in its place called Mei Wei. Mei Wei has just opened up in the past couple of weeks. The menu is VERY similar to that of the now defunct Mama Fu's. We ate there Saturday night and we'll be going back. I hope that this place can generate the traffic necessary to stay in business. Here's a slideshow of the menu with links to larger images of the menu on Picasa:

View all

Get your own

A couple of things...

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:02:25 PDT

As usual, the Federation of American Scientists recently posted some new CRS reports. The one that I've found most interesting in July (most are somewhat interesting anyway) is the first one at http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2009/07/070909.html#2. CRS reports are a product of YOUR TAX MONEY, but are often limited in distribution.

Locally, the Tennessee Valley Authority is beginning a study into how best to meet the Valley's future electrical needs. To that end, a series of "scoping meetings" will be held at various venues until August 6. There are four meetings left, so if you are an interested member of the Valley public, check check out one of these meetings.

I can't believe I missed the chance last night.....

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:00:34 PDT

To give props to NASA for the 40th anniversary of man on the moon. Much of the future regarding manned space flight appears in flux at the moment, but I absolutely believe we'll continue to move forward into space. I truly love the fact that private companies have emerged in the quest to achieve more in space. Check out NASA's subsite for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon missions.

I missed giving props last night to go see the Huntsville Arts Council's Concert in the Park. Olde Towne Brass and the Huntsville Concert Band did a good job. And I can't fail to mention that the Greek fast food we picked up from Taziki's was great!

Not much else to say, so here's what the NRC added to their ADAMS system about my nuclear plant last week:

U1 & Sitewide

Browns Ferry, Operator Licensing Written Examination Approval 05000259/09-301, 05000260/09-301 and 05000296/09-301.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, RAI, Request For Supplemental Information Regarding Extension Of Technical Specification Completion Time For Emergency Diesel Generators.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3; Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; Watts Bar Plant, Unit 1 - Summary of Conference Calls With The Tennessee Valley Authority Regarding Decommission Funding Assurance.

IR 05000259-09-007, 05000260-09-007 and 05000296-09-007; 04/20 - 24/2009; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3; Focused Fire Protection Baseline Inspection.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1, Request For Additional Information (RAI) For Extended Power Uprate - Round 25.

U2

Browns Ferry, Unit 2, Status of Decommissioning Funding Assurance.

U3

Nothing additional

It's Monday night!

noreply@blogger.com (Art) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:51:19 PDT

The Huntsville Arts Council's Concert in the Park was pretty good and I had a chance to sweat it up kickin' the hacky sack for well over an hour. The Abstract Band and Toy Shop were good. Next week, it's Olde Towne Brass and the Huntsville Concert Band.

Not a whole lot else, so here's the weekly (and perhaps geeky, in a nuclear sense) roundup of what was put into the NRC's ADAMS system about Browns Ferry last week. Actually, the stuff about the Browns Ferry fire in 1975 is kind of interesting:

U1 & Site

1. CEB-75-12,"Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Units 1 & 2 Approximate Temperature Zones Derived From a Review of Physical Evidence Produced by the March 22, 1975, Fire."

2. "Fire at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant on March 22, 1975."

3. Tennessee Valley Authority - Submittal of Report in Accordance with 10 CFR 26.719 (c)(1) for Drug and Alcohol Testing Errors.

U2&3

4. ACRS Meeting with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, - June 4, 2009, Slides.