09/05/02

The investigative arm of Congress will look into why federal regulators allowed the Davis-Besse nuclear plant to continue operating last winter when government engineers suspected it was leaking reactor coolant.

The General Accounting Office's decision to take up the case, at the request of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, brings to seven the number of probes into the troubled Toledo-area plant and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's oversight of it. The plant has been idle since workers in March discovered a large, long-festering rust hole in the reactor's lid.

The multiple reviews of how the plant's management and the agency missed the rust hole's growth for as long as eight years makes the Davis-Besse incident one of the most heavily scrutinized events in the recent history of the American nuclear industry. Five of the reviews are by the NRC itself.

Spokesmen for the NRC and Davis-Besse's operator, FirstEnergy Corp., said yesterday that they would cooperate.

The GAO likely will begin its work within the next three months, said Bob Robinson, managing director of the agency's natural resources and environmental team.

Whether the GAO completes its investigation before the plant is restarted is uncertain.

FirstEnergy intends to have the reactor ready to run by year's end, but the NRC has the final say.

Kucinich is concerned that the GAO will not complete its review before the restart decision, so he will seek assistance from other, higher-ranking members of Con- gress to move up the investigation's timetable.

"Given that the industry is pushing to re-open Davis-Besse, it's just as urgent that the GAO push to address the issues I have brought to its attention," Kucinich said. "There's no way that plant should be permitted to restart without the GAO having investigated and presented its report."

Kucinich's request for the investigation was prompted by a Plain Dealer report last month.

The newspaper's story revealed that the NRC staff was nearly certain that Davis-Besse's reactor lid was leaking and had prepared a shutdown order by early October. But after a vigorous campaign by FirstEnergy, the agency's management ultimately accepted a compromise that allowed the plant to operate until Feb. 16. The NRC's decision violated its own guidelines for making risk-related judgments.

The delayed safety inspection found not only cracked and leaking nozzles in the reactor's lid but also a 6-by-8-inch rust hole. Only a thin stainless steel liner remained to contain the highly pressurized reactor coolant

While a probe into the NRC's handling of Davis-Besse is by itself a "very legitimate issue," Robinson said, the GAO may broaden the scope of its inquiry into an overall review of the NRC's performance. That would make the findings more relevant to the entire Congress, to which the GAO reports.

"There is a lot to be learned by investigaing the manner in which the NRC handled the crisis at Davis-Besse," Kucinich said. "This has relevance for every nuclear plant in America."

For complete coverage of Davis-Besse go to www.cleveland.com/davisbesse/

To reach these Plain Dealer reporters:

jfunk@plaind.com, 216-999-4138

jmangels@plaind.com, 216-999-4842