west metro
Possible fuel rod hazard at Xcel's Monticello nuclear plant
- Article by: Associated Press
- Updated: February 16, 2011 - 11:21 PM
Tim O'Connor, Xcel's Monticello site vice president, said plant officials have determined that four control rod blades -- out of 121 in the reactor -- potentially could be affected.
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A manufacturer is reporting a potential "substantial safety hazard" with control rods at more than two dozen nuclear reactors around the country, including the Xcel plant near Monticello, Minn.
According to a report made public Wednesday by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said that it had discovered extensive cracking and "material distortion" and that it likely would recommend that the boiling water reactor plants 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.
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.
"It could either slow down or stop the control rod from inserting" when plant operators were trying to reduce power or shut a plant down, Lochbaum said.
Gundersen said control rods "are like the brakes on a nuclear reactor."
"It's almost like they have a 100,000-mile warranty on them and they need to be changed out at 40,000," he said.
Tim O'Connor, Xcel's Monticello site vice president, said plant officials have determined that four control rod blades -- out of 121 in the reactor -- potentially could be affected.
"This is a long-term aging issue that is several years out in the future," O'Connor said.
"The plant has a routine replacement schedule for all the control rod blades as part of its normal preventive maintenance program," he said. "The potentially affected blades will be replaced in a refueling outage scheduled to begin in early March."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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