FYI....
Jaro
NUCLEONICS WEEK - September 19, 2002
DAVIS-BESSE SET TO RESTART DEC. 4,
BUT NRC APPROVAL A QUESTION MARK
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (Fenoc) this week
presented a schedule for restart of Davis-Besse, saying its
target date was Dec. 4. Full-power operation would follow
three days later, the company said. Other key dates in the
schedule were Oct. 30 for completion of the core reload and
Nov. 18 for NRC restart approval. As it has throughout the
process, NRC refrained from endorsing the Fenoc projection.
Fenoc officials released the information at a Sept. 17
meeting in Oak Harbor, Ohio of the special NRC oversight
panel formed under Inspection Manual Chapter 0350 to coordinate
the regulatory aspects of the Davis-Besse restart effort.
Severe degradation of the Davis-Besse reactor head was discovered
in March during a refueling outage.
<SNIP>
The second report said the Davis-Besse vessel liner, or
cladding, was thinner than originally thought and also had a
crack-actually a series of small cracks, spanning about 3/8
inch. That information came from analysis of a 17-inch-diameter
specimen of the degraded reactor head. Fenoc submitted
both reports to NRC earlier this month.
<SNIP>
The second report, dated Sept. 9, said the average thickness
of the stainless steel liner was 0.256 inches, with a minimum
of 0.202 in. That is considerably less than the "nominal"
3/8 (0.375)-in. thickness of the liner but still somewhat above
the design minimum of 3/16 (0.188) in. The liner was all that
remained of the reactor coolant system pressure boundary
after boric acid corroded a 6.5-in.-deep hole in the carbon-steel
Davis-Besse head. According to an NRC preliminary
notification, "The depth of the crack is not known, but there
are no indications that it is through the wall of the liner."
<SNIP>
-Daniel Horner, Washington