Nuclear powerHairline cracks discovered in Ohio nuclear plant

Ohio's Davis-Besse nuclear plant // Source: ohiocitizen.org

The discovery of several hairline cracks at a nuclear power plant in Ohio has watchdog groups questioning its structural integrity.

On Monday a team of inspectors found several hairline cracks including one thirty-feet long at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, located outside of Toledo. The cracks were detected in the reactor’s shield building as well as in its architectural elements.

According to Viktoria Mitlyng, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the cracks do not pose “an immediate safety concern.”

FirstEnergy, the plant’s operator, said the cracks in the architectural elements were “not associated” with the building body cracks and were being investigated as separate issues.

Jennifer Young, spokeswoman for the plant operator, explained that the cracks in the architectural elements were located in concrete wedges on the exterior of the building that are “purely decorative in nature.”

Young said fifteen of the sixteen wedges had “very tight small hairline cracks.”

She added that the two cracks in the buildings body were also “very tight, small, and localized,” and based on the ongoing investigation, had no impact on the building’s structural integrity.

Some safety advocates are not assuaged by the company’s claims that the cracks pose no danger.

In response to the discovery, the Union of Concerned Scientists immediately sent a letter to NRC asking whether the concrete walls were built to adequate engineering specifications.

NRC said it was reviewing the letter and FirstEnergy maintains that the reactor’s walls were designed properly.

The Davis-Besse nuclear reactor has been inactive since 1 October as part of a scheduled outage. Engineers are currently installing a new eight-two ton reactor head to replace one that cracked. 

FirstEnergy expects the reactor to resume operation by the end of November.