ML18004B777
| ML18004B777 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Harris  |
| Issue date: | 02/20/1987 |
| From: | Lancaster H HOUSE OF REP. |
| To: | Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18004B775 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8704270095 | |
| Download: ML18004B777 (5) | |
Text
MARYII'Alb~aSTER 3o DISTRICT, NORTH CAROUNA IIt:otfgeeffs of tfje tmmteb States QoIISe of 3ReyeeseIItntibes 5Haefjfogtom, SK 20515 February 20, 1987 Honorable Lando W. Zech, Jr.,
Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1717 H Street, N.
W.
Washington, D.
C.
20555
Dear Mr. Zech:
Enclosed please a copy of a Jack Anderson column which has been sent to me by a concerned constituent.
Can you give me and him any reassurance that these counterfeit bolts have not been and will not be used at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in North Carolina?
Thank you for your attention to this request.
inc rely, HML:dd H.
Mar in Lancaster Member of Congress psDj0+p7009/
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Maroging Edtor CarltodHarrert city Edaor Brit steog Ec<torlat page Echtor
'Tom Beavors Fzrrtry Ed tor Julian Serena brier Hove Ed<ter Susan Broiii News E<Mor Carl Boswell Sports EC<tor Frank Dascenzo Opinien PAGE 4.A DURHAhf,N.C., THURSDAY,JANUARY22, 1987
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, Substandlard. hells discevere8 ae one lJ.S. nu.clem pewer plex; WASHINGTON Substand-ard bolts have been found at one U.S. nuclear power plant and may well bc in place at others, ready to give way at the first serious vibration or ultra.high temperature.
The Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission, however, ls alarmingly relaxed about the danger that tho faulty fastener could cause a
Chernobyl like disaster.
Thc bolts are countcrfclts mostly from Taiwan, Korea and Jar>an. They look like high.grade bolts and bear false tndustry markings designating topquallty Jack Anderson Meny-Co.Round manufacture.
They, however, arc made of substandard metals or arc Inade.
auatcly tempered to ssithstand the stress that they may be sub.
')ected to in an emergency.
A qualitymntrot official at the commlsslon told our associate Stewart Harris he was reason.
ably certain that there were no counterfeits In nuclear power plants; because a recent random test had turned up none. Asked how many bolts were actually-tested, the oflicialreplied: "13."
Further tests will be made on perhaps 30 morc bolts taken from three to five power plants, th<<
official said. This u1tl compler.c-the testing, hc said, unless scute counterfeits arc discovered.
WE HAVE NEWS for the commission:
Countcrleit bolts have already been lound in slor.
age at a nuclear power plant.
Bill Wlndt of Texas Bolt con.
ducted laboratory tests on bolts taken from a plant that he said had bought "tons" of subsland.
ard steel fasteners. lie was told he'd bc sued il he revealed the name of thc plant, but he was able to tell us the nuts and bolts he tested at his Houston lab did not meet specifications and could fall under such conditions as the extreme temperatures that are common in nuclear cooling sys.
tems.
The bolts subscqucnlly were removed from storage and dis.
carded.
The substandard fasteners dis-covered by Windt aren't the only ones that have been palmed ofl on the nuclear industry. We havo
'lso learned that bogus bolts
. were purchased by PoslSeal In' ternattonal, a Connecticut firm that makes butterfly valves for nuclear plants.
MANY SUPPOSEDLY high.
grade bolts sold to PosiSeal twisted off during Installation.
The company ran cheraical tests, to find out why, and discovered
'hat some of the bolts were made of low~rbon steel that turns to putty at high tempcraturcs.
Another sample tested was susceptible to shattering because it hadn't been properly heat.
. treated.
We spent weeks poring os'cr Nudcar Regulatory Commission documents for any mention of counterfeit bolts, and found abso-lutely nothing.
We also were told that com-mission inspectors might not recognize a spurious bolt If they
'ripped over one. An Industry
.source had this biting comment on the commission's approach to thc problem: "Iys like asking II our frlcndly neighborhood ome builder to put together a
Boeing 747."
We presented our evidence to number of cxpcrts In the Indus.
'ry.
'THEIR RESPONSES were chilling. Tommy Grant of Grant Fasteners in'ouston, made a
one-word assessmcnl:
"Frighten-
] ing.-
Frank Akstcns, an engineer and editor ol Fastener
'Fcch-notogy fntcrnat tonal
- magazine, said: '"The documented evidence,
'ou send ls appalling testimony on the behavior and shortcom-ings vrithln the nuclear power In.,'ustry."
John Cole of Product
~ Risk Reduction Inc. of Westlake,
'hio, said, "I seo many of the
'ssumptions and decisions Indi.,
cated in thc (commission's) re-ports as basic Ignorance of thc roducts and thc world fastcncr asc 1'
Charles Wilson of thc Indus.
trial Fastener Institute in Clove.
land agreed.
Some of the cnrl necrs who wrote thc reports appeared unaware, for example, that bolts that are too hard can be as dangerous as ones lhat are too soft.
Ifthey'ro too hard, Wilson cx plained, they won't brcak loosr under extremely high pressur<
as they'rc Intended to; laekin.
this safety
- feature, the cntir, cooling syslcm could explode.
Wtlson also faulted thc con:
mission for allowing unmarke<
bolts to be Installed in nuclea lants. "Why docsn't thc mane acturer put his mark on Because he docsn't want you t know that he made the bolt, Wilson said.
IGNORANCE ON IRAN: A internal memo of thc Senate Fo eign Relations Committee hz some trenchant criticism of tth presidential advisers who mastc minded the Iran arms fiasco.
"It Is unclear whether tho.
most Involved ln thc Initiative ~
notably former National Sccuri<
'ouncil advisers (Rober McFarlane and (John) Poindr ter and former NSC staffer (0 ver) North had a very su stantlve knowledge of thc intris cies of Near East politics," tl memo observes with diplontat circumspection.
Then itcomes right out and:
cuscs the terrific trio of havl; only "a superficial appreciatlo:
of the situation within fran.
RHEUM SUN City Editor BillStagg Family Editor Julian Soreno News Editor Carl Boswell Managing Editor Cart tori Harrrltt Editorial Pago EdItor Alter Hours Editor Sports Editor Tom Bonvors Susan Broill Frank Dasconzo jjj.HEARD H PAGEOS 4-A DURHAM,N.C., THURSDAY,JANUARY22, 1987 G tS XSCQV(t X'C WASHINGTON Substand-ard bolts have been found at one U.S.
nuclear power plant and may well be in place at others, ready to give way at the first serious vibration or ultra-high temperature.
The Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission, however, is alarmingly,
'relaxed about the danger that the faulty fastener could cause a
Chernobyl-like disaster.
The bolts are counterfeits,
,mostly from Taiwan, Korea and Japan. They look like high-grade
. bolts and bear false industry markings designating top.quality
'49 Jack Anderson Merry-Go-Round manufacture.
They, however, are made of substandard metals or are inade-quately tempered to withstand the stress that they may be sub-jected to in an emergency.
A qualityeontrol official at the commission told our associate Stewart Harris he was reason-ably certain that there were no counterfeits in nuclear power plants, because a recent random test had turned up none. Asked how many bolts were actually tested, the officialreplied: "13."
I"urther tests willbe made on perhaps 30 more bolts taken from three to five power plants, the official said. This will complet.e the testing, he said. unless sorrre counterfeits are discovered.
WE HAVE NEWS for the commission:
Counterfeit bolts have already been found in stor-age at a nuclear power plant.
Bill Windt of Texas Bolt con-ducted laboratory tests. on bolts taken from a plant that he said had bought "tons" of substand-ard steel fasteners.
He was told he'd be sued if he revealed the
~
name of the plant, but he was able to tell us the nuts and bolts he tested at his Houston lab did not meet specifications and could fail'under such conditions as the extreme temperatures that are common in nuclear cooling sys-tems.
The bolts subsequently were removed from storage and dis-'arded.
~ The substandard fasteners dis-covered by Windt aren't the only ones that have been palmed off on the'nuclear industry. We have
'lso learned that bogus
- bolts, were purchased by PosiSeal In-ternational, a Connecticut firm that makes butterfly valves for'uclear plants.
MANY 'SUPPOSEDLY high-"
grade bolts sold to PosiSeal twisted off during installation.
The company ran chemical tests'o find out why, and discovered
'hat some of the bolts were made of lowmrbon steel that turns to putty at high temperatures.
Another sample tested was susceptible to shattering because
,. it hadn't been properly heat-treated.
We spent weeks poring oyer Nuclear Regulatory Commission, documents for any mention of counterfeit bolts, and found abso-lutely nothing.
~We also were told that com-mission inspectors might.
- not recognize a spurious bolt if they tripped over, one. An industry source had this biting comment on the commission's approach to the problem: "It's like asking our 'riendly neighborhood ome builder to put together a
Boeing 747."
We presented"our'evidence to a number of experts in the indus-
- try,
.9
+9 TIIEIR RESPONSES werc chilling. Tommy Grant of Grant Fasteners in'Houston, made a
one-word assessment:
"Frighten-ing."
Frank Aksteris, an engineer and editor of Fastener T'ech-notogy International ma'gazirte, said; "The documented evidence you send is appalling testimony on the behavior and shortcom-,
ings within the nuclear power in-,'ustry."
John Cole of I'roduct Risk Reductron Inc. of Westlake, Ohio, said, "I.sert many of the assumptions and decisions indi-cated in the (commission's) re-ports as basic ignorance'of thc products and the world fastcncr base."
Charles Wilson of the Indus-trial Fastener Institute in Clevc-lanrl agreed.
Some of the engi ~
neers who wrote the reports appeared unaware, for example, that bolts that are too hard can be as dangerous as ones that are too soft.
, Ifthey'e too hard, Wilson ex plained, they won't break loosr under extremely high prcssurt as they'e intended to; lackint this safety featur~,
the entirr cooling system could explode.
I Wilson also faulted the corn j mission for allowing unrnarkcr
'olts to be installed in nuclea plants. "Why doesn't the manu
'acturer put his mark on'ecause he doesn't want you t'now that he made the bolt, Wilson said.
IGNORANCE ON IRAN: A internal memo of the Senate For eign Relations Committee ha some trenchant criticism of th presidential advisers who maste'inded the Iran arms fiasco.
"It is unclear whether thos most involved in the initiative notably former National Securit Council advisers (Robe rl McFarlane and (John) Poinde tcr and former NSC staffer (0; ver) North
" had a very su stantlve knowledge of the intric cies of Near East politics," tl memo observes with diplomat circumspection.
Then it comes right out and:
cuses the terrific trio of havir
. only "a superficial appreciatlor of the situation within Iran.
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