NEW HILL – Duke Energy’s nuclear power plant just south of the Triangle has found its second flaw this year.
WRAL reports that the Shearon Harris plant was shut down Nov. 9 for refueling during which time an ultrasonic inspection found a microscopic crack in a nozzle.
A Duke Energy representative said the public is in no danger due to the flaw.
Shearon Harris is located 25 miles southeast of Chapel Hill.
http://chapelboro.com/news/health/shearon-harris-plant-finds-second-flaw-year/CHAPEL HILL - Katie Gulledge and Bill Melega were selected to participate in a transatlantic teacher scholars program.
Gulledge from McDougle Middle and Bill Melega from Chapel HillHigh School were identified for their background in teaching and innovation, and chosen to participate in this international training.
The Transatlantic Teachers Scholars Program will engage twelve teachers from North Carolina and Virginia in a year-long training program that will bring narratives and events from a contested landscape to life. One of the focuses this year will be on the Meuse-ArgonneAmericanCemetery and the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of WWI.
The training includes a series of blended courses, culminating with a trip to Verdun, France in July 2014.
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Duke Energy begins selective herbicide treatment on much of the low-lying vegetation in OrangeCounty the week of Sept. 23.
This work is part of Duke Energy’s system-wide vegetation maintenance program. The work includes low volume back pack herbicide applications in non-maintained rights of way. The herbicide will target sapling species that could interfere with power interruptions in the future. Some of the targeted vegetation include: woody stems, leaving grasses, and wildflowers.
Applications are not performed in areas maintained by property owners.
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Hillsborough Town Board members approved a special use permit last Monday that will allow a Tractor Supply Company store to be built on NC 86 near Interstate 85.
Tractor Supply, based out of Charlotte, will construct the 19,000 square foot store with an outdoor sales area and parking lot. Currently the property is vacant and has the opportunity to support local area farmers.
With the special permit approved, the partners will continue the permitting process and may break ground by the end of the year.
http://chapelboro.com/news/news-around-time/32630/CHAPEL HILL – You might have received an email recently from Duke Energy warning about scammers targeting the company’s customers.
Spokeswoman Kristina Hill says this scam has been targeting not only Duke Energy customers, but utility companies across the country for the last several months.
“What we saw with Duke Energy is that the targets really weren’t slowing down,” Hill says.
Occasionally, the company may call customers to discuss their account, Hill explained. If it is a legitimate Duke Energy call, a representative will provide information that only the customer and Duke Energy would know.
Hill says there are several red flags that customers should guard against.
“If you get an unsolicited phone call from an individual who falsely claims to be with Duke Energy, and they threaten immediate service disconnection within one hour, that’s one red flag,” Hill says.
Hill says Duke Energy customers who have delinquent accounts receive multiple notifications from the company over the course of several weeks prior to power service disconnection. She says it is never just a single notification one hour before disconnection.
In some cases, the scammer can manipulate the customer’s caller identification and display Duke Energy’s name or phone number as the party calling. They will then ask customers to purchase a prepaid debit card to avoid service disconnection. Hill says Duke Energy will never ask customers to settle an account balance through a prepaid debit card.
In response to the increase in scamming incidents, Hills says Duke Energy stepped up its campaign in August to educate customers about the issue through radio ads, messages on statements, and email alerts.
If you do receive a call which you believe is from a scammer, you should hang up and call local police, then Duke Energy to report the call and check your account balance at 1-800-777-9898.
For more information on how to recognize a scam, click here.
http://chapelboro.com/news/crime/duke-energy-warns-customers-of-scammers/
Photo courtesy of Nimur
NEW HILL – Equipment malfunction at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in New Hill—just more than 25 miles southeast of Chapel Hill—set off alarms at around 3:00 a.m. Thursday; the plant’s owner, Duke Energy, reports no radioactive material has leaked.
The alert was cancelled at around 5:00 a.m.
The reported equipment failure resulted in the loss of power to non-safety related equipment. As a precaution, emergency response facilities were being put in place early Thursday morning. There are also sirens set up in a ten-mile planning zone around the plant. Duke Energy officials said crews were standing by to activate those if needed and that they do not expect the situation to get any worse.
This is the second incident since May at the Shearon Harris plant when a microscopic crack was found in one of the plant’s reactors forcing it to be shut down and repaired in early June.
http://chapelboro.com/news/safety/shearon-harris-nuclear-plant-on-alert-early-thursday/RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Federal regulators say the shutdown of a North Carolina nuclear plant in May is leading Duke Energy to change some procedures after missing a tiny crack near the reactor core last year.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s final report released Thursday found the operators of the Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Raleigh violated a reporting requirement, but it had very low safety significance.
The NRC said last month an outside contractor hired to search inside the nuclear reactor missed the quarter-inch spot last year, when four smaller flaws were found and fixed.
The report says Duke Energy now plans to keep multiple teams of analysts separated as they review data.
A spokeswoman for the nuclear plant said Duke Energy is reviewing the report and looking for ways to improve inspections.
http://chapelboro.com/news/business/nrc-minor-violation-for-missed-nc-nuke-plant-flaw/RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Duke Energy Corp. is releasing more details about its deal with North Carolina’s official consumer advocate to raise electricity rates for customers in the state’s central and western regions.
Duke Energy said Monday its settlement with the North Carolina Utilities Commission’s Public Staff would raise rates for customers of its Duke Energy Carolinas subsidiary by about 5 percent. The company would get an extra $205 million in the first two years, and $235 million a year after that.
The public staff is responsible for representing consumers and said it would support the increase, which is half what the company requested in February.
The rates will be discussed at several public hearings this month, beginning with Wednesday in Winston-Salem. They would take effect in September if the state utilities commission approves.
http://chapelboro.com/news/business/duke-energy-rate-increase-would-average-5-percent/ 28.9°F |
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