NRC finding: apparent Unit One violation

Nuclear Regulatory Commission is disclosing a preliminary greater than green finding and related apparent violation involving a crack in a weld in Unit One at the Oconee Nuclear Station. The report was addressed today in NRC correspondence to Scott Batson, site vice president at Oconee Nuclear. The government watchdog agency describes the finding as “greater than very low significance.” As explained by Joey Ledford, NRC spokesman in Atlanta, involved was a crack in a weld in the high pressure injection system in Oconee Unit One.” Duke personnel discovered the crack last November and that led to the shutdown of the unit, according to Ledford. In correspondence today with Scott Batson, Duke Site Vice President at Oconee, the NRC’s Mark Lesser said, “Your measures failed to identify and correct a significant condition….” The NRC considers that an “apparent violation” and is giving Duke the chance for a regulatory conference or submit its position to the NRC in writing. “Basically, they should have had an inspection program that would have identified this crack earlier,” Ledford told 96.3/WGOG NEWS this afternoon.