UPDATE: Plant Vogtle confirms 76 positive COVID-19 cases

As reported by WFXG.

Request for Suspension of All NRC Rulemakings and Other Activities Involving Public Comment or Participation Until 6 Months After End of Covid-19 Crisis

Letter sent on April 8, 2020, by 82 organizations, including Beyond Nuclear, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman and Commissioners.

Coronavirus strikes Fermi 2 nuclear plant during refueling; utility keeps working

Fermi Unit 2, on the Lake Erie shore. NRC file photo. Fermi 2 is the largest Fukushima Daiichi twin design on Earth, a General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactor nearly as big as the melted down Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 & 2 put together.As reported by Tom Henry at the Toledo Blade.

The article reports:

To the dismay of Monroe-area resident Michael J. Keegan, a longtime activist associated with the activist group Don’t Waste Michigan, the NRC has again allowed DTE to postpone some of the work planned for the submerged portion of Fermi 2’s pressure suppression chamber, also referred to as the torus.

The utility came to an agreement with the NRC to fix degraded coating there, a situation that has lingered for 31 years. It was first identified in 1989, the NRC has said.

One of the concerns is that loose paint chips in drains could make it difficult for vital reactor coolant pumps to move water in the event of an emergency.

The NRC told DTE it will grant the utility’s request to remove only coatings found to be degraded through inspections.

“If degraded coating is found, they will remove it prior to returning the reactor to operation after the spring 2020 outage,” Ms. Mitlyng said.

Fermi 2, one of Michigan’s largest employers, is about 30 miles south of Detroit, which is now one of America’s hot spots for the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, if such torus inspections are deferred, under cover of the coronavirus pandemic, as NRC is wont to rubberstamp, then no degraded coating will be found, nor will it be removed.

DOE DC HQ staffer dies from Coronavirus

From politico.com:

DOE STAFFER DIES FROM CORONAVIRUS: An Energy Department employee who worked at the agency's Washington headquarters has died after contracting the novel coronavirus, E&E News reports. The department also said Tuesday two more employees based at its headquarters have tested positive for the virus. One of the employees has been away from the building since Feb. 14 and the other since March 30. Both employees are currently in self-quarantine.

Letter from 24 U.S. Senators to OMB, defending public participation and comment rights under APA and NEPA

The letter, invoking Administration Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act public participation and comment rights, reads:

Specifically, we request you take two broad steps:

1. Instruct all federal agencies to indefinitely extend all open or announced upcoming public comment periods for rulemakings and administrative actions not related to the COVID-19 pandemic response; and,

2. Pause any new Administrative rulemaking actions, unless those actions are explicitly required for the COVID-19 response and recovery. If anything, agencies should be focused on how they can redeploy their existing resources to contributing to the federal government's response to this crisis.