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Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s unsatisfactory handling of Davis Besse nuclear safety issuear

Congressman Kucinich Demands Investigation of Nuclear Safety Agency
http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/congressman-kucinich-demands-investigation-of-nuclear-safety-agency/
http://kucinich.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=306494 Washington, Aug 15 – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is today demanding the Inspector General of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees safety at our nation’s nuclear power plants, investigate the agency’s handling of the reopening of Davis-Besse in northern Ohio after cracks were discovered in the shield building.

Kucinich’s call comes after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a hearing in Ohio to reassure the public about the safety at Davis-Besse. Official answers from NRC employees made at that hearing differed dramatically from what NRC engineers had told Kucinich and
his staff previously.

“[T]hose public statements by the NRC spokespeople stood in sharp
contrast to the open and candid assessments that I and my staff had
been receiving from NRC Region III engineers,” wrote Kucinich.

At the heart of the issue is cracking discovered in a concrete
structure called a shield building. The shield building is supposed to
protect the nuclear reactor from outsides threats while providing a
last ditch containment structure in the event of disaster. Workers
discovered cracking in the structure while replacing the nuclear
reactor head. The plant was shut down while FirstEnergy studied the
cracks. (Before an official “cause” was determined, the plant was
restarted last December) FirstEnergy concluded in February that the
cracks were the result of the “blizzard of ’78.” Activists call this
convenient explanation a “Snow Job.”

“I cannot determine what caused this change in the answers of these
Region III engineers, but I am concerned that it is a response to
pressure from their superiors. Someone made a decision to rush
Davis-Besse back into operation on December 2, 2011, which, according
to NRC emails obtained through FOIA, occurred while Region III
engineers were still debating the impact of the cracking.

“I am concerned that NRC officials are trying to legitimize that
decision by readily accepting FirstEnergy’s purported cause, and the
minor remedial actions that FirstEnergy is proposing, and actively
campaigning for public acceptance of them. I note that the new Region
III director paid a visit to the editorial board of the Toledo Blade,
apparently to ‘sell’ FirstEnergy’s explanation and the continued
viability of the Davis-Besse shield building wall.

“FirstEnergy has consistently misled the public about the nature and
extent of problems at Davis-Besse, incurring the largest fine in NRC
history as a result of its deceit in concealing the facts about the
corrosion in the reactor head. We need a Nuclear Regulatory Commission
that tells the public the truth, not one that merely repeats the
soothing, but misleading, statements of the reactor’s operator. … We
need to restore the NRC’s credibility as a regulator capable of
objectivity.

“The people of northern Ohio need to know whether or not the shield
building remains strong enough to protect them from a potential
catastrophe,” wrote Kucinich

August 30, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA