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NRC cautions nuke industry after discovery of bad concrete and steel at SRS | GreenvilleOnline.com | The Greenville News

NRC cautions nuke industry after discovery of bad concrete and steel at SRS
greenvilleonline.com By Tim Smith • STAFF WRITER • November 2, 2008COLUMBIA — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has warned the nuclear industry to be careful in its construction oversight after finding problems earlier this year with some bad concrete and faulty reinforcing steel in the foundation of the plant at the Savannah River Site that will produce nuclear reactor fuel from weapons-grade plutonium………………………………..According to the Shaw AREVA Web site, construction of the 600,000-square-foot facility will require more than 170,000 cubic yards of concrete and 35,000 tons of reinforcing steel.

Problems with concrete at a nuclear plant under construction in Finland, according to the NRC, “caused lengthy construction delays and had a negative impact on public confidence.”

In France, officials encountered a series of problems with steel reinforcing bars in construction of a new reactor site there. The French agency overseeing the project “considers the main issue to be the licensee’s quality management system,” the NRC reported…………………Tom Clements, Southeast nuclear campaign coordinator for the environmental group, Friends of the Earth, said the problems discovered at the MOX plant appear to be “endemic” to nuclear industry construction.

“It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the project or other such projects, nationally,” he said.

NRC cautions nuke industry after discovery of bad concrete and steel at SRS | GreenvilleOnline.com | The Greenville News

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November 3, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety