NRC to change regulation of nuclear power plants

[Susan L Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

NRC to change regulation of nuclear power plants

By Malia Rulon, The Associated Press

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01152003/s_49354.asp



WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is overhauling the

way it regulates U.S. nuclear power plants in response to criticism that

it should have detected damage to an Ohio nuclear reactor sooner.



The commission on Tuesday adopted nearly all 50 staff recommendations

from a highly critical report on the Davis-Besse plant in northern Ohio.

Those recommendations include conducting more thorough inspections;

demanding better assurances from plant operators that problems get

fixed; and creating a mechanism for faster intervention when

irregularities are spotted.



"We're trying to set tripwires out there so when someone sees a problem

they can bring it to the attention of management," said Carl Paperiello,

NRC's deputy executive director for materials, research and state

programs. Paperiello chaired the review team that approved the reforms.



The changes come 10 months after inspectors found boric acid had nearly

eaten through a 6-inch(15-centimeter)-thick steel reactor cap on the

Davis-Besse plant. The discovery, which the NRC has said should have

been spotted several years earlier, led to a nationwide review of all 69

similar plants.



The Davis-Besse report, released in October, said the NRC and the

nuclear industry did not think boric acid deposits would cause

significant corrosion. An NRC senior inspector became aware of the

deposits in 2000 but never notified superiors or inspected the area more

closely, the report said.



But nuclear watchdog groups pointed out that the agency reforms don't

address the decisions involved when the NRC decided not to force the

plant's owner, FirstEnergy Corp., to immediately shut down for a safety

inspection. The plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio, near Toledo, has been closed

for repairs since the hole was found. Meanwhile, no problems have been

found on the reactor vessel heads of the nation's 69 pressurized water

reactors, Meserve said.

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................

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