Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: First Energy Davis Besse nuclear: cracks in the containment vessel to go with corrosion in the head [View all]Kolesar
(31,182 posts)Davis-Besse nuclear power plant now include mysterious hairline cracks in the outer concrete "shield building" around the reactor and its containment vessel.
These problems demand more than the usual ho-hum treatment from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
So the real mystery is why the NRC has let plant operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., a subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., power up the reactor before the utility completes its investigation into what caused the cracks.
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Given the rocky operating history at Davis-Besse, on the Lake Erie shore near Toledo, and the large population living nearby, the NRC should have insisted on a root-cause report before permitting the plant to go back online. In 2002, the company's failure to check the lid of its nuclear reactor in a thorough and timely way allowed a gaping rust hole to grow unnoticed.
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FirstEnergy wants to extend Davis-Besse's operating license to 2037 and has already applied for that 20-year extension. Davis-Besse's current license expires in 2017.
The reactor should not get a new lease on life until the NRC thoroughly analyzes its recent problems. Are the cracks an indicator of structural issues at Davis-Besse, making this plant too risky to operate for another two decades?
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/01/before_giving_davis-besse_anot.html
I am encouraged the the Plain Dealer would editorialize against First Energy. It had been that the PD was a mouthpiece for FE and the banks that did their financing dirty work for them.