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...of the steel pressure vessel. [/font]
The corrosion around the nozzles of the head were the story of the last decade. There was a hole "as big as a football" in the reactor head. The only metal containing the radioactive water was the layer of chromium plating on the reactor head. Three engineers were found guilty of falsifying safety records in that instance.
Now, the plant owners are reporting a
second occurrence cracks in the concrete of the containment vessel. The first crack was a fifteen foot long "hairline crack" near the bottom of the containment vessel.
I will keep you posted about this hazard on our lake. There are relicensing hearings coming up. Hopefully, my thread will outlast Davis Besse.
Davis Besse operators admit to more cracks than previously announced
Thanks to WTOL television
TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - After admitting to discovering cracks in the concrete shell of the Davis-Besse nuclear reactor last month, the plant's operator says there more cracks near the top of the structure. The cracks were immediately announced to the necessary regulators, but they were not made public at the time.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for FirstEnergy Corp. told The Associated Press that the cracks were found in November. Jennifer Young, the plant's spokesperson, says that the cracks were reported to the U.S. Nuclear regulatory Commission, and they never tried to hide the information.
...edit for copyright reasons...
http://www.wtol.com/story/16214458/davis-besse
Davis-Besse meeting postponed
Thanks to The Toledo Blade
...FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that the Davis-Besse plant resumed producing electricity at 7:23 a.m. Tuesday following a nine-week shutdown for a reactor-head replacement. The plant was at 23 percent power on Tuesday morning and is expected to reach full output later this week.
A 30-foot, hairline crack was discovered in the shield building Oct. 10 after a contractor cut an access hole through the structure for the reactor-head replacement. Further investigation revealed additional cracking in the concrete, but last week the NRC authorized First Energy to restart the plant while further research about the cracking is conducted.
...edit for copyright reasons...
http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2011/12/06/Davis-Besse-meeting-postponed.html