Widespread "substantial safety hazard" with fuel control rods

[kristopher]

Possible fuel rod hazard seen at some nuke plants
Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt. — A major manufacturer in the nuclear industry is reporting a potential "substantial safety hazard" with control rods at Vermont Yankee and more than two dozen other reactors around the country, according to a report made public Wednesday by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said it had discovered extensive cracking and "material distortion," and likely would recommend that the boiling water reactors using its Marathon control rod blades replace them more frequently than they had been told to previously.

"The design life if not revised, could result in significant control blade cracking and could, if not corrected, create a substantial safety hazard and is considered a reportable condition," the company said in its report to the NRC.

Both David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry engineer who now frequently consults with groups critical of the industry, said the faulty blades could make affected control rods inoperable...

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP7d866635fc9f465b9668dc18382ca1e8.html


Link to Union of Concerned Scientists' info in nuclear safety and oversight.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/safety/