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Local Companies | Article
published September 14, 2002
IN
VIRGINIA
Power plant to install new
reactor heads as precaution
By KELLY LECKER
BLADE STAFF
WRITER
RICHMOND, Va. - To head off serious safety
concerns like the corrosion at Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, a
Virginia-based energy company says it plans to replace four reactor
heads at two of its nuclear plants.
Dominion placed a $175
million order for the reactor heads and said it will have them
installed at its North Anna and Surry plants, both in Virginia, by
2005. The heads will be replaced when the plants are shut down for
refueling.
For complete coverage of Davis-Besse go to
www.toledoblade.com/davisbesse
The
company is one of the first to announce officially it will replace
its reactor heads, a costly move for nuclear plants, to avoid having
problems like the ones found at Davis-Besse, where boric acid caused
a football-sized hole in the head. The corrosion left only a thin
layer of stainless steel to cover the reactor and keep radioactive
steam from escaping into the concrete containment
building.
Davis-Besse has been shut down since February so
the plant and federal regulators can learn what happened and fix the
problems.
"It’s not anything like Davis-Besse," Dominion
spokesman Richard Zuercher said, adding that the Virginia plants are
going through the process of renewing their operating licenses. "We
want to detect problems early and fix them."
The NRC has said
none of the 68 nuclear plants inspected after the leaks were found
has anywhere near the corrosion found at Davis-Besse.
NRC
spokesman Victor Dricks said the agency requires plants to comply
with regulations, but it does not require any of the plants to
replace the heads.
The Dominion plants were inspected last
year, after cracks were found in the control rod drive mechanism
nozzles at the Oconee plant.These nozzles are like sleeves that
guide control rods in and out of the uranium, controlling the
nuclear process and allowing the plant to be shut down.
These
through-wall cracks were found at two of the Virginia plants, and
apparently boric acid was leaking from the cracks. Boric acid, used
to slow down the nuclear process, is what ate away at Davis-Besse’s
reactor head. Dominion ordered repairs on the heads until it could
get the replacements installed. The head did not have significant
corrosion.
Dominion’s other two plants, which are in
Connecticut, do not need to have new heads, Mr. Zuercher
said.
The plants were inspected in 1996 after cracks were
found in nozzles at some nuclear power plants in France. There was
no cracking at Dominion’s plant, Mr. Zuercher
said.
Representatives from FirstEnergy Corp., which owns and
operates Davis-Besse, will meet with NRC officials Tuesday and
Wednesday in Oak Harbor.
For complete coverage of
Davis-Besse, go to www.toledoblade.com/davisbesse
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