http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2011/05/30/nuclear_regulatory_commission_says_seabrook_tunnel_weakened/?page=fullWater weakened Seabrook tunnel
Work underway to assess plant; reactor remains safe, NRC says
Concrete surrounding an electric tunnel at Seabrook Station nuclear power plant has lost almost 22 percent of its strength because it has been saturated with ground water for more than a decade, according to a new Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection report.
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Random cracks allow water to sometimes pool up to 2 inches deep in the tunnel interior, NextEra found, and the NRC says the company has had “limited success’’ in halting ground water seepage problems around the tunnel and elsewhere under the plant.
The problem is coming to light just months after Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, an event that prompted politicians and the public in the United States to focus closer attention on the nation’s 104 reactors.
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The tunnel and other areas where water seepage was found are part of a safety system used to help cool the reactor when it is being shut down. In addition to the concrete tunnel problem, NextEra found corroded steel supports, piping, and anchor bolts in other areas they inspected but none have degraded concrete or in any way endanger the plant, said NextEra.
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note about the article: one paragraph says everything is safe and the next tells of some degradation and then back to everything is safe. and ending with a sentence saying:
“These things keep surfacing,’’ Lochbaum said. “There is no one person responsible for this area.’’