[ RadSafe ] Davis-Besse acid leak

[James Salsman]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nuclear_plant_damage

Three Indicted in Ohio Nuclear Plant Case

By CONNIE MABIN, Associated Press Writer 

Thu Jan 19, 10:42 PM ET 

CLEVELAND - A federal grand jury indicted two former nuclear 
power plant employees and a contractor Thursday on charges 
of hiding information about serious damage to a reactor from 
regulators.

The indictment accuses the trio of misleading regulators in 
the fall of 2001 into believing that the Davis-Besse plant 
was safe so federal inspectors would delay visits until the 
spring of 2002, during a scheduled shutdown for refueling.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors found an acid leak 
in 2002 that nearly ate through a 6-inch steel cap on the 
reactor vessel at the plant, which sits along the Lake Erie 
shore about 30 miles east of Toledo.

Officials said it was the most extensive corrosion ever seen 
at a U.S. nuclear reactor.

The plant was closed for two years but returned to full power 
in 2004. Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., which owns the plant, 
spent $600 million making repairs and buying replacement power 
because of the shutdown.

Company and NRC investigations concluded that the rust hole 
had been growing for at least four years and that Davis-Besse's 
managers had ignored the evidence because they were focused on 
profits rather than safety.

Indicted were former engineering design manager David Geisen, 
former engineer Andrew Siemaszko and Rodney Cook, a consultant 
who was working for Davis-Besse.

There were no Ohio telephone listings for Siemaszko and Geisen. 
Messages were left at numbers listed under Rodney Cook.

Davis-Besse spokesman Richard Wilkins said Thursday that he was 
not aware of the indictments.

"Those are former employees so I couldn't comment on it 
anyway," he said.

___

Associated Press writers M.R. Kropko in Cleveland and John Seewer 
in Toledo contributed to this report.