NYT/AP: Hole Found in Pipe at Nuclear Fla. Reactor

[DeepModem Mom]

Hole Found in Pipe at Nuclear Fla. Reactor
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 1, 2006

FLORIDA CITY, Fla. (AP) -- Officials inspecting a South Florida nuclear reactor found a small hole drilled into a pipe that helps maintain pressure, and investigators were trying to determine why it was there, Florida Power & Light said Saturday.

The 1/8-inch hole was discovered late Thursday during a series of inspections and tests performed before bringing the reactor back online, the utility said.

The plant was in no danger, FPL spokeswoman Rachel Scott said.

***

FPL, the state's largest electric utility, repaired the damaged piping and, though the company's investigation continues, plans to bring the unit back into service in about a week, she said.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and FBI are also investigating.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Power-Plant.html

[mike_c]

1. curses, they found it....

[file83]

11. LOL!

[Ecumenist]

2. DRILLED???!!

:wtf However, that would explain the mindset or lack thereof in Florida....Not to mention the three eyed fish that blink...

[burrowowl]

3. Interesting!

Freshly drilled or there for awhile?

[ebayfool]

5. Story doesn't say that is was freshly drilled, it was found during what ..

looks to have been a routine shutdown. I do doubt the 'drilled' line they are putting out, though. If this was a pressure line, anyone would have to be nuts to attempt to 'drill' a hole in it while it was in use. Holes in pipes are common - can be caused by a multitude of things. Erosion - very common. Piss-poor welding (if it was in a welded seam) is more common than most people would be comfortable with, if it was more widely known. Also very common during turn-arounds where plants are shutdown for maintenance operations, though a nuke plant should not be finding them - their QC people are supposed to be on top of that kind of thing!

Utility companies (as well as big oil!) are very prone to trying to shush any defects that might show lack of maintenance or quality control efforts, in my experience in a past life as a welding inspector.

It would help if the story gave a little more info - like pipe material, location, pressures, etc. But I've found holes in newly-laid pipes big enough to 'Ray Charles' it (holes so obvious you could find 'em w/your eyes closed!).

[burrowowl]

12. Why I was wondering

corrosion, embrittlement (much faster than first calculated), etc.
Yes, more info would be nice.

[burrowowl]

4. Kick!

Holes in pipes where they aren't suppose to be are not good.
Anyone with technical expertise?

[ebayfool]

6. NRC has a release on it on their site -

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2006/06-011ii.html

snip/ (whole release - it's a shorty)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending an Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) to review equipment damage at Unit 3 of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant. The damage was reported by Florida Power & Light Company, which operates the plant near Florida City, about 30 miles southeast of Miami. The AIT inspection will include an evaluation of the cause of the equipment damage, including the possibility that it was damaged intentionally.

An AIT is formed to review the circumstances surrounding more significant issues at NRC-licensed facilities. The NRC inspection team includes specialists from the agency’s Region II office in Atlanta. The team is expected to spend about one week at the site before returning to the regional office where the information they have gathered will be analyzed and evaluated.

"Our inspection team will review the company’s own investigation as well as independently assess the extent of the equipment issues and the company’s response," said NRC Region II Administrator William Travers.

Travers said that because Unit 3 was shut down and the plant’s procedures led to the discovery of the damage early in the process of starting up, the actual safety significance was low.

--------------
I wonder why it was initially shut down? They sure aren't giving much info!

[murielm99]

7. It is routine for nuclear plants to shut down part of the plant

and do inspections of the equipment.

It sounds like they were lucky that part of the plant was shut down for inspection.

[ebayfool]

10. Yes, I know they do regular maintenance shutdowns (see post #5) -

Just wondering aloud if this is one of those or if it was shut down for other reasons (like pressure drops, etc). You're right - they were very lucky! This one is curious, though. It bears watching how it plays out, if only to satisfy that itch! A through & through hole? Drilled? Or a utility spokesman or reporter that is using sloppy semantics? :shrug:

[jwirr]

8. Who is heading the investigative team? Jeb?

[guruoo]

16. Gee, you don't think they made this up do you?

[jillan]

9. This scares me.

Can't wait to hear the details on this story.
But then again - who knows if the details the msm provides will be true.

[u4ic]

13. My father built CANDU reactors for 30 odd years

not singlehandedly, of course. ;)

I asked him about this, and couldn't answer much because the 'damage' part was very vague. He said if it's a small hole in a pipe relating to water or steam pressure - that's not a big problem at all, and just needs to be replaced...that happened a lot at the ones he worked for (the replacing).

The actual raw material is only in the reactor itself, and no one would be able to get in there and drill a hole.

He is referring to the Canadian design, however. He said US nuclear standards are lower than Canadian (and has said it to me many times over the years...:eyes: )

So...as is it, most likely no danger to the public..unless it was a terrorist.

Are they sure it wasn't a bullet hole? Wasn't Cheney in the area recently? :think:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. "Drilled"??? OMG!! OBL!! TERRA!! TERRA!! TERRA!!

[skids]

15. Say, is that the new Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker?

Ayep, bought it this weekend at Home Depot! Wanna see what this baby can do? It cuts through steel like nothin, lemme tell ya!