Comforting to know!

Possible cause found for hole at nuclear plant

By MICHAEL D. McELWAIN

 

SHIPPINGPORT, Pa. - Officials believe they now know what caused a small hole through the steel containment plate inside Unit 1 of the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant.

"We found a two-by-four approximately six inches long embedded inside a concrete wall," Todd Schneider, spokesman for FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), said late Wednesday afternoon.

Schneider added that the piece of wood was likely used as part of the form for the four-foot concrete containment wall during its construction in the mid-1970s.

Unit 1 at the Beaver Valley Power Station was shut down April 20 for a scheduled refueling and for maintenance work.

The problem first came to light last Thursday when, during a routine inspection, workers at the nuclear power plant discovered a hole in the containment building's steel encasement.

At the 738-foot elevation level inside the containment area, inspectors discovered an area "approximately three inches in diameter and exhibited blistered paint and a protruding rust product," according to the information supplied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

On April 23, and after cleaning the area and removing the corrosion, a rectangular area approximately one inch (horizontal) by 3/8 inch (vertical) was discovered that penetrated through the containment steel liner plate.

The liner in that area is 3/8-inch-thick carbon steel. On the other side of the steel liner is a four-foot reinforced concrete wall that remained intact at all times, Schneider noted.

After finding the blister and the hole, workers cut a six-by-six inch portion out of the steel liner including the area of penetration, according to Schneider.

That's when the workers saw what appeared to be a piece of two-by-four.

"We then increased the size of the opening in the steel liner to about 12-by-17 inches to see what we were dealing with," Schneider added.

The piece of two-by-four was removed, and Schneider said it likely caused the initial damage to the steel liner.

Workers are now adding reinforcement straps and will add concrete to fill the cavity left by the foreign piece of material. After that, a steel patch will be welded into position.

"We don't know why that piece of wood was left behind, but other nuclear plants have had similar experiences," Schneider said.

While there might have been a small hole in the steel liner, the concrete wall remained intact at all times.

Together, the liner and the wall are designed to contain any radioactive material if an accident were to occur.

At no time did any radioactive material escape from the facility, according to Schneider.

"We should have the repairs completed in the next couple of days," Schneider said.

In the meantime, he added that the refueling process is also going on as scheduled.