Operator: No Safety Threat from Cracks at Ohio Nuclear Plant
The operator of an Ohio nuclear plant along Lake Erie said cracks first discovered three years ago have grown in the concrete building that protects the plant and its reactor.
The findings do not mean the structure at the Davis-Besse plant near Toledo is unsafe, FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Corp. said.
Independent experts determined the cracks have not compromised the building, Jennifer Young, a company spokeswoman, told the Sandusky Register.
FirstEnergy told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July that a study showed the cracks could grow 0.4 inches to 0.7 inches during freeze-and-thaw cycles.
The company said nearly a year ago that it found several more cracks in the concrete building and that some cracks detected earlier had grown.
The reinforced concrete shield building surrounds a 11/2-inch thick carbon steel vessel containing the reactor and is intended to protect the public from a catastrophe.
The company has said high-definition cameras now used for inspecting core samples provide greater clarity and mobility and have identified cracks that weren’t visible with previous inspection equipment.
Several hairline cracks were found in the structure’s 2.5-foot-thick concrete in 2011. FirstEnergy determined that they were caused by wind-blown moisture seeping into the concrete during blizzards and freezing weather and that the building’s structural integrity has not been affected.
Anti-nuclear groups have said the cracks call into question the soundness of the structure.
Davis-Besse is in Oak Harbor, about 25 miles east of Toledo.
- 4,800 Claims Handled by Unlicensed Adjusters in Florida After Irma, Lawsuit Says
- Work Safety Group Releases List of ‘Dirty Dozen’ Employers
- Warren Buffett’s PacifiCorp Now Faces $30 Billion Fire Claim Demand
- Insurers Get Green Light to Pay Less Than Billed Charges in Florida PIP Cases
- Report: Vehicle Complexity, Labor ‘Reshaping’ Auto Insurance and Collision Repair
- California Chiropractor Sentenced to 54 Years for $150M Workers’ Comp Scheme
- Poll: Consumers OK with AI in P/C Insurance, but Not So Much for Claims and Underwriting
- Apollo Accused in Lawsuit of Illegal Human Life Wagering Scheme