Word: fueled
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...minimize the risk, federal guidelines require that some older plants like Millstone, without state-of-the-art cooling systems, move only one-third of the rods into the pool under normal conditions. But Galatis realized that Millstone was routinely performing "full-core off-loads," dumping all the hot fuel into the pool. His question for Betancourt was, "How long has this been going...
...know," Betancourt said. "And we do it all the time." What's more, Millstone 1 was ignoring the mandated 250-hr. cool-down period before a full off-load, sometimes moving the fuel just 65 hrs. after shutdown, a violation that had melted the boots of a worker on the job. By sidestepping the safety requirements, Millstone saved about two weeks of downtime for each refueling--during which Northeast Utilities has to pay $500,000 a day for replacement power...
...citizens' group meeting, Galatis met a mechanic named Pete Reynolds, who had left Millstone in a labor dispute two years before. Reynolds shared some hair-raising stories about his days off-loading fuel. He told Galatis--and has since repeated the account to TIME--that he saw work crews racing to see who could move fuel rods the fastest. The competition, he said, tripped radiation alarms and overheated the fuel pool. Reynolds' job was to remove the big bolts that hold the reactor head in place. Sometimes, he said, he was told to remove them so soon after shutdown that...
...knew that if such things had happened, they would be reflected in operator's logs filed in Northeast's document room. So, on Oct. 6, he appeared in the room and asked for the appropriate rolls of microfiche. The logs backed up what Reynolds had said: Millstone had moved fuel as soon as 65 hrs. after shutdown--a quarter of the required time. The logs noted the sounding of alarms. Galatis wondered where the resident inspector had been...
...overdue off-load, but he kept Galatis and Betancourt off the team. The task force came up with six serious problems, most already raised by Galatis. Scrambling to fix the pool in a few weeks, DeBarba hired extra people. The plant shut down, anticipating permission to move fuel...