It was exactly a year ago when additional NRC inspectors were at the
Davis-Besse nuclear power plant to closely monitor and follow the installation of the new reactor vessel head.
The
plant had been shut down since October 1. The NRC reviews and
inspections had already begun in July 2011 to verify the new head was
made to NRC standards and requirements.
On
October 10, workers were cutting a hole in the side of the outermost
building to replace the reactor head when they found a crack in the
reinforced concrete. The NRC took immediate action by having the
inspectors who were already at the plant follow the discovery, by
sending a concrete material expert to the plant the same day to better
understand the technical issue and by forming a special technical review
team in response to the discovery. The review team was tasked with
ensuring a thorough and rigorous review of the issue to determine if the
plant could still be operated safely.
The
NRC conducted more than 1,200 hours of inspections in response to this
discovery and held public meetings in the area to discuss the issue and
answer questions from the public. The plant now has a new reactor head
on and is currently operating safely.
Some of the actions the NRC took and how the agency responded can be seen in a new
YouTube video
.
In the video, we take you inside Davis-Besse with some of the NRC
inspectors who were involved in the inspections of the new head
installation and the shield building. We hope you take a few minutes to
check it out.
Prema Chandrathil
Public Affairs Officer, Region III
No comments:
Post a Comment