Inspectors Failed to Note Nuke Plant Hole
Meanwhile, on the FirstEnergy front, Newsday has this report
Inspectors Failed to Note Nuke Plant Hole
By MALIA RULON
Associated Press Writer
October 21, 2003, 6:59 PM EDT
WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission missed warning signs that an Ohio nuclear power plant had a massive hole in its reactor head because inspectors failed to notify officials at headquarters of the findings, the agency's watchdog said.
The plant has been shut down since February 2002. A month later, a leak was discovered that had allowed boric acid to eat nearly through the 6-inch steel cap covering the plant's reactor vessel.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, was conducted for Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. It examined NRC oversight of Davis-Besse in the year before the discovery of corrosion on the plant's reactor head.
"Resident inspectors at the plant reported numerous instances of boric acid leakage and its corrosive effects on reactor components," but that communication was never forwarded to officials at NRC headquarters, the report said.
There were other signs that something was wrong, including a clogged air cooler and a picture of rust-colored acid streaming down the plant's reactor head, the report said.
Kucinich, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said the report "demonstrates a complete failure at every rung of NRC's bureaucratic ladder."
"This report shows that the NRC was caught unaware of a problem at an aging plant that it should have been aware of," said Jim Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst at Greenpeace.
NRC spokeswoman Sue Gagner said the agency was studying the findings.
The report from NRC Inspector General Hubert T. Bell follows a similar report issued by Bell in January. The earlier report had criticized NRC officials for putting profits ahead of safety by allowing the plant's owner, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, to wait more than a month before shutting the plant down for refueling and safety inspections.
NRC said it was the most extensive corrosion ever found on top of a U.S. nuclear plant reactor.
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