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safety gave way to profit at davis-besse



yeah, I know, "nobody died - all is well" ;-).

But we came too close to a major accident for my liking.

norm



"Dr. Bill Corcoran at NSRC" wrote:



> Please scroll down for today's story. Best Regards, Bill Corcoran W.

> R. Corcoran, Ph.D., P.E.

> Nuclear Safety Review Concepts

> 21 Broadleaf Circle

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> where you will find a dialogue on the Davis-Besse near miss LOCA.,

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> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =

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>

> [Image]

>

> Operators say <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =

> "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Ohio nuclear plant put

> production before safety

>

> Associated Press

>

>

> 8/16/2002 08:50 am

>

> [Image]

>

> Safety took a backseat to production at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant

> the last three years and clues to major equipment problems were

> overlooked, the plant's operators told regulators.

>

> It was the strongest admission yet by FirstEnergy Corp.'s nuclear

> division about mistakes made at the plant where inspectors found the

> most extensive corrosion ever on a U.S. nuclear reactor.

>

> "We gave away the margin of safety," said Steve Loehlein, leader of an

> internal investigation into the damage at the plant.

>

> Among their findings: managers weren't involved in fixing problems and

> rarely went into the reactor building and operators justified

> potential problems to keep the plant running instead of making

> repairs.

>

> Loehlein said there was a "loss of focus."

>

> FirstEnergy nuclear's chief operating officer, Lew Myers, told Nuclear

> Regulatory Commission officials in Chicago on Thursday that they were

> embarrassed by what happened.

>

> The plant near Toledo has been shut down since February, when

> inspectors discovered during routine maintenance that boric acid had

> nearly eaten through a steel cap that covers the reactor vessel.

>

> The shutdown led to a nationwide review of all 69 similar plants, but

> no similar problems were found.

>

> Akron-based FirstEnergy is spending an estimated $55 million to $75

> million to replace the reactor lid.

>

> FirstEnergy wants to reopen the plant at the end of the year, but NRC

> officials made it clear the company will need to make many changes

> before they will allow a restart.

>

> The utility must exceed the NRC's standards to get the plant operating

> again, said Jim Dyer, regional administrator of the NRC's Chicago

> office.

>

> "You need to set your own standards," he said. "It's going to be quite

> a challenging period for both you and us”.

>

> "This cannot happen again."

>

> FirstEnergy already has removed several top managers at the plant,

> including Howard Bergendahl, vice president in charge of Davis-Besse

> and the former plant manager.

>

> The NRC also said that its own inspection efforts were focused on

> problems at other nuclear plants in the Midwest from 1997 to 2000.

>

> "We provided a minimal amount of inspection," Dyer said. "And as a

> result of that, the quality degraded."

>

> ___

>

> On the Net:

>

> www.firstenergy.com

>

>

>

> Copyright © 2002 The Reno Gazette-Journal

>

>

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