WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators are hoping
to get reassurance Friday about how FirstEnergy
will test for cracks in the bottom of the
Davis-Besse reactor.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is to hear
from the utility Friday about how it plans to
use robotic cameras to check rust stains along
the underside of the vessel at the plant.
The stains need to be checked to make sure there
are no leaks. FirstEnergy says the stains
are from acid that washed off the plant's old
reactor head, but it can't rule out the
possibility of hidden cracks.
The plant has been shut down for more than a
year after inspectors found an acid leak had
eaten a hole in the reactor cap.
The utility plans to fire up the plant for
the first time since February 2002 to test for
cracks. The test is one of the last steps
before the plant comes back online.
Restart could happen sometime this summer.
Posted Friday, April 4, 2003 at 7:15
a.m.
