Feds asked to probe fire at TVA nuke plant

Feds asked to probe fire at TVA nuke plant
By J. PATRICK WILLARD
The Knoxville Journal

Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear manager Steven A. White has called for a task force investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms into a fire at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant two weeks ago.

A TVA spokesman said White feels the fire is "of a suspicious origin."

A six-member BATF team was to be investigating the site of the fire today.

Gasoline was discovered in four of 16 samples taken from the Nov. 3 fire at the idle nuclear plant, "thereby raising the possibility of arson" a TVA report said Thursday.

"We are not calling it an arson fire at this point," said Rick Tye, head of fire protection for Browns Ferry.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also been notified, officials said.

TVA officials said the amount of gasoline involved was a very small amount, under a half-gallon. They also said a fire started by gasoline does not match the descriptions of the blaze from two eyewitnesses.

The fire caused only minor damage and was extinguished in 30 minutes, TVA officials said.

A report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Thursday said debris samples were analyzed for accelerants and turned up four samples with traces of gasoline. The findings were substantiated by Huntsville, Ala., and Birmingham fire officials.

Tye said officials are now trying to find out how gasoline may have gotten into the cable area. He said it is possible gasoline may have been brought in for maintenance work instead of a chemical used on the cables.

Ken Clark, an NRC spokesman, said the results "raise the possibility of arson, but we're not saying that's what they are." He said the gasoline may have been created from chemicals in electrical cables involved in the fire.

TVA officials said background checks have been made of all the individuals that had access to the area where the fire occurred. They said there is no apparent reason to suspect any employees of arson.

Stewart D. Ebneter, who was recently named head of the NRC's special projects office, was at the plant site Tuesday. Ebneter is responsible for overseeing efforts to restart the nuclear plant, which has been shut down for two years.

Officials initially thought the fire might have been caused when workers pulled electrical cables which were carrying electricity. The fire was discovered when a TVA worker spotted an arc over a cable tray at the plant.

Investigators also looked into the possibility that welding work being done in the area might have contributed to starting the fire.

A 1974 fire at Browns Ferry was the major nuclear accident in the country prior to incidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The fire caused an estimated $10 million in damage. The nuclear plant was shut down for a year for repairs.

Browns Ferry has been shut down since 1985 for safety precautions. TVA officials hope to restart one reactor at the plant this summer. Two other reactors are scheduled to go back on line by 1991.

An environmental activist group has called on TVA to close two reactors at the plant because they are too expensive to operate. The Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition issued figures showing it would be less expensive to build a new coal-fired steam plant than to operate Browns Ferry Units 1 and 3.

13 Sequoyah problems solved; meeting on cable tests set
By J. PATRICK WILLARD
The Knoxville Journal

The Tennessee Valley Authority solved 13 of 64 problems delaying startup of the Sequoyah nuclear plant Thursday and plans to meet with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next week to deal with cable tests — the last major obstacle to restart.

TVA and NRC officials met here Thursday to discuss the 64 problems identified in independent design inspection (IDI) this summer, said the utility proved it met standards for 13 of the problems on the list.

TVA officials also announced plans to meet at NRC headquarters on Tuesday to discuss tests of silicone rubber electrical cables. NRC officials have suggested TVA should replace all the types of cable which failed in tests this summer.

The cables, however, passed recent laboratory tests that simulated a nuclear accident. TVA plans to present the test results to NRC in hopes federal regulators will drop requests for replacements.

NRC officials have estimated replacing the 252 cables could take from two to four months.

"Based on the information developed to date by TVA, the staff must consider all the silicone rubber cables at Sequoyah to be suspect," NRC Director James G. Keppler said in a letter last week to TVA.

Nuclear Manager Steven A. White.

"As discussed with you earlier, the most expeditious resolution of this problem for Sequoyah may well be the replacement of all silicone rubber cables within containment," Keppler added.

TVA must also solve the remaining problems identified in the IDI, but Ray said most of those issues can be completed by mid-December.

He said TVA was able to "substantially defuse" NRC concerns about structural calculations. NRC officials earlier recommended TVA hire an independent contractor to review the designs of five buildings at the plant site near Chattanooga.

The Sequoyah plant has been shut down since 1985 for safety precautions. TVA officials hope to restart the plant in January or February.

Ray said the NRC will do a final check on the IDI problems in January to insure TVA has fix them.

TVA is now completing modifications to 70-100 pipe hangers prior to a nonnuclear heatup of the plant. Once the modifications are completed employees will complete a valve alignment and proceed to the heatup.

The heatup will allow TVA managers to test employees under conditions similar to plant operation. Heat pumps will be used to bring the plant to the temperatures and pressures the plant will face in actual operation.