Shield building cracks discovered during replacement of a reactor pressure vessel head will not prevent the Davis-Besse nuclear plant from restarting, the NRC has determined.
In a release Friday, the NRC said FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Corp. has assured regulators that the building can perform its safety functions. The decision follows intense regulatory scrutiny of the building’s concrete in recent weeks. Going forward, the NRC will require the plant to determine the cause of the cracks, develop a long-term monitoring program and ensure cracks are not growing.
In October, crews cut through the shield building to remove the reactor pressure vessel head of the 913 megawatt Babcock & Wilcox pressurized water reactor. In the process, they found a 30-foot-long hairline crack in the wall, and later electronic testing showed more cracks in concrete beneath the soil. Nonetheless, FirstEnergy remained confident the discovery would not substantially delay the RPV head replacement. The concrete in question is not part of the reactor’s primary containment, which lies inside the building.