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DB liner thinner than first thought - and cracking
"Dr. Bill Corcoran at NSRC" wrote:
> __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nuclear
> plant's liner thinner than first thought
>
> The Associated Press
> 9/11/02 3:17 AM
>
> OAK HARBOR, Ohio (AP) -- The stainless-steel liner under the lid of
> the now-closed Davis-Besse nuclear reactor was thinner than officials
> originally believed and had begun to crack in several places, a
> laboratory analysis shows.
>
> The strength of the liner was critical because when corrosion created
> a large hole in the reactor's lid, the liner became the only barrier
> between the reactor's high-pressure coolant and the building that
> houses the reactor, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Wednesday.
>
> The liner was supposedly three-eighths of an inch thick. But testing
> determined that the liner was significantly thinner in places -- in
> one location nearly 50 percent thinner -- than plant owner FirstEnergy
> Corp. believed.
>
> Officials of Davis-Besse and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission don't
> know how or when the cracks formed, or even how deep they go, and said
> Tuesday that they are still reviewing the findings.
>
> But the presence of cracks raise questions about whether the barrier
> was as strong as FirstEnergy Corp. has said and how much longer it
> would have been able to withstand the reactor's operating pressures.
>
> The answers to those questions will affect the outcome of NRC and
> Davis-Besse studies to determine how close the Toledo-area plant came
> to a major nuclear accident. That finding, in turn, will dictate what
> penalties and continuing scrutiny FirstEnergy faces from the NRC.
>
> "We want to know more, obviously," said William Beecher, an NRC
> spokesman.
>
> "It's important to know what happened . . . every detail," agreed
> FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider.
>
> Davis-Besse officials learned of the cracks Monday night, Schneider
> said.
>
> The reactor has been idle since February, when the plant shut down so
> workers could inspect for cracks in the 69 nozzles that penetrate its
> massive steel lid. Nozzle cracking has been a recognized issue
> industrywide for years in older reactors. The cracks were thought to
> be relatively benign, but the NRC became alarmed when more extensive,
> possibly dangerous cracks were found at a South Carolina reactor in
> 2001.
>
> At Davis-Besse, workers found not only serious cracking, but also the
> 6-by-8-inch hole formed by the reactor's corrosive coolant leaking
> from the cracks and pooling undetected on the lid for years.
>
> FirstEnergy has used the liner's strength as part of its argument to
> the NRC that Davis-Besse wasn't close to an accident, and thus it
> doesn't deserve a harsh punishment. Although the company will have to
> revise its safety calculations based on the new crack findings, its
> argument still holds, Schneider said.
>
> "We have to remember that the liner held normal operating pressure and
> that the plant shut down safely," he said.
>
> Copyright 2002 cleveland.com. All Rights Reserved.
>
>
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"Dr. Bill Corcoran at NSRC" wrote:
> Colleague, Please be so kind as to scroll down for today's update. I
> have been getting off-line messages from some of you and will be
> getting to them AWLP. Thanks for your patience. Best Regards, Bill
> Corcoran W. R. Corcoran, Ph.D., P.E.
> Nuclear Safety Review Concepts
> 21 Broadleaf Circle
> Windsor, CT 06095-1634
> 860-285-8779 Fax: 702-993-2408
> Mission: Saving lives, pain, assets, and careers through thoughtful
> inquiry. Check out our e-groups at
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> where you will find all back issues of "The Firebird Forum" and at
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> where you will find a dialogue on the Davis-Besse near miss LOCA.,
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> ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
> Nuclear plant's liner thinner than first thought
>
> The Associated Press
> 9/11/02 3:17 AM
>
> OAK HARBOR, Ohio (AP) -- The stainless-steel liner under the lid of
> the now-closed Davis-Besse nuclear reactor was thinner than officials
> originally believed and had begun to crack in several places, a
> laboratory analysis shows.
>
> The strength of the liner was critical because when corrosion created
> a large hole in the reactor's lid, the liner became the only barrier
> between the reactor's high-pressure coolant and the building that
> houses the reactor, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Wednesday.
>
> The liner was supposedly three-eighths of an inch thick. But testing
> determined that the liner was significantly thinner in places -- in
> one location nearly 50 percent thinner -- than plant owner FirstEnergy
> Corp. believed.
>
> Officials of Davis-Besse and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission don't
> know how or when the cracks formed, or even how deep they go, and said
> Tuesday that they are still reviewing the findings.
>
> But the presence of cracks raise questions about whether the barrier
> was as strong as FirstEnergy Corp. has said and how much longer it
> would have been able to withstand the reactor's operating pressures.
>
> The answers to those questions will affect the outcome of NRC and
> Davis-Besse studies to determine how close the Toledo-area plant came
> to a major nuclear accident. That finding, in turn, will dictate what
> penalties and continuing scrutiny FirstEnergy faces from the NRC.
>
> "We want to know more, obviously," said William Beecher, an NRC
> spokesman.
>
> "It's important to know what happened . . . every detail," agreed
> FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider.
>
> Davis-Besse officials learned of the cracks Monday night, Schneider
> said.
>
> The reactor has been idle since February, when the plant shut down so
> workers could inspect for cracks in the 69 nozzles that penetrate its
> massive steel lid. Nozzle cracking has been a recognized issue
> industrywide for years in older reactors. The cracks were thought to
> be relatively benign, but the NRC became alarmed when more extensive,
> possibly dangerous cracks were found at a South Carolina reactor in
> 2001.
>
> At Davis-Besse, workers found not only serious cracking, but also the
> 6-by-8-inch hole formed by the reactor's corrosive coolant leaking
> from the cracks and pooling undetected on the lid for years.
>
> FirstEnergy has used the liner's strength as part of its argument to
> the NRC that Davis-Besse wasn't close to an accident, and thus it
> doesn't deserve a harsh punishment. Although the company will have to
> revise its safety calculations based on the new crack findings, its
> argument still holds, Schneider said.
>
> "We have to remember that the liner held normal operating pressure and
> that the plant shut down safely," he said.
>
> Copyright 2002 cleveland.com. All Rights Reserved.
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> DBRVH_LTBL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
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