ML20063E923
| ML20063E923 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | LaSalle  |
| Issue date: | 04/21/1982 |
| From: | AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20063E917 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-82-248, FOIA-82-A-15 NUDOCS 8207140497 | |
| Download: ML20063E923 (6) | |
Text
,
g,
~, -
,eq,
\\
j
/
\\
/
'l l
1 e
g l,j l
- t*
A P 'P I D At V. 1 T My name is.
I am submitting i
this a.ffidavit freely and voluntarily ( without any threats, inducements or promises of reward,.totMr. Thomas Devine, who has.dentified himself as the:1ega1 director of the
/l Government Accountability Project.of the Institute for Policy Studies.
I wish to express ny concerns about ser-ious construction problems andithe' effects of a quality control program.at the LaSalle. nuclear ' power plant t2:2
.e:.cr t.~;M-h.:':.*.r_%'rL.m. i-c?? CP.
I am. afraid that the plant will open without first repair.ing scricus flaws I have personally witnessed.during construction.' Purther, I wish to protest inexcusable waste during construction.
The ratepayers should not have to pay.for the utility's negligence in permitting a boondoggJe of u'nnecessary costs.
I grew up around theiLaSalle plant.
Por over years, from until.
-I*also worked at the nucient plant as a laborer and,.for'part of the time sa My, job was 1
l:
- n..L.
e' k*.*
' :hroughout the plant.. My job allowed ne to obscrve. construction.throughoutithe plant.
. :w.
s 967L 4${ M v >.. :.
y
5*
2.
\\.
- j e
O I
My most serious concern is similsr to an issue raised b'y the electricians a few weeks ago - - core-drilling of g
I concrete reinforcement bars in,the containment walls.
But I believe that my problem is mor.e. serious.
The same dam-age, occurred in the pedestal that.the! reactor sits on.
The reactor pedestal is a concrete structure that rises out of the suppression pool.
Since the nuclear reactor weighing 750' tons sits on it, the pedestal i's one of the most inportant parts of the plant.
It has to be solid.
Between the pedestal and:the containment wall long tubes called downconers come down from the drywell to release excess pressure.- Severa1 years ago the Nuclear Regulatory Comnission required nuclear plants to install supports for the downcomers.
Unf'rtunately, the way the o
repair work was done may have lef t the plant less safe than before.
~
l Walsh, the construction firm, C G=r ch instal 18 he t
supports by boring holes,into the primary containment wall and.the pedestal itself on three diffdrenE levels.
Walsh drilled xA holes to ' install bolts on e the plates that hold the supports.
They did this -about - 500 times on the con-tainment wall and 500 times on.the. pedestal.
's.n the pro.-
cess, Walsh dhilled holes up to three
- feet deep in the
,j-concrete.' These holes must have weakened the concrete.
Even.w'orse, Walsh core-drilled right throur:h the reinforce-1 l
e
y3 2,3 -
t ment bars ("rebars") in the reactor pedestal and contain-mept wall concrete.
I know these: f acts, because I person-J ally observed the work.
Furt01er..last week I confirmed the nunber of holes wi*th the guys who did the work.
I do not believe the rebars have been repaired or replaced, l
because it could not have been done.without doing the whole job over, which hasn' t happened.-
Construction crews have broken.the rebars throughout the plant.
Usually it does not bother me so mu::h because there'are backup' systems.
But' you.have to be able to count on the pedestal.
This is not the only problem.with the pedestal con-
,s crete and the containment.
They were hs-honeyc_octbed with various size hcles and large voidE.C2-TDdO:5252h
@ch One hole,in the reactor pedestal was so large I couldn' t reach the end with 'my arm.
The NRC said it was all right to just patch theiholes with grout, but that leaves a weaker bond thai 1 if'the concrete were soiid.
Combined with the shattered rebars,, the reactor pedestal will be down two strikes before the, plant even begins op-erating.
That's too big a risk for me.
The problems with honeycombed. concrete and shattered i
\\
- Y.~,:
rebars'are not surprising with the* quality control program
.t at LaSal1e.
It is set up by the company, which " buys" the
. g,,..
.. i
~
?
I p
(.
, \\,, * '
~
,4
. $ =,*
(
'i
.e I
,/
, Iresults by holding a paycheck overithe heads of control Inspectors.
e
' control inspector tell'constrMany times I have overh I
e
', wrong and that he would be back.i uption.that someth,ing w
(
I
. Soon the inspector would
\\
come ba W and say the defect-was.OK after all Quality control shculd be run by an outside firm th t does not have a
.a conflict-of-interest.
I was also concerned about the general I
Com Ed workers at
. attitude of the plant.
that nothing was going to happen noThey seemed.to be matter what.
Part of the problen was even more basic i
~ ~ -
, Similarly, there l
are many legal Mexican a'11 ens at theiplant speaking English, Besides not they do noti pay taxes.
were always the first But Americans to be 1: aid. offi /,-
I am upset about how much wes are payi'ng f because the waste has been gross or LaSalle, be deliberate.
.. Sometimes it seems to Por instance, constructio\\
there are two units under n at LaSalle4 There:were : pipe hangers installed
-l indni,t[I,'andthe'NRC. ordered revisions.
.. C ~
~
Morrison, the D
.. ~5
- h. 5,.. r
\\
k
~
/
' pipe installation company, doessnot. care.
They just make inore money.
s
..e
+
One of my fellow enployee's worked at.the lake screen-house.
He told me,of a similar example.
The crew was or-I dered to rip out 6 r,lx-inch ceiling beams for the pipe hangers and replace them with five-inch beams.
It did not nake sense to do expensive rework that weakens the struc-f i
ture, so my fellow worker asked why.
The response was re-f vealing:
"What are you worried about?
You're getting paid."
i NRC inspectors. periodically tour the plant, but they do not acconplish much.
Enployees try to relate problems to the inspectors, but the NRC men.are demeaning.
They laugh and reject our complaints, saying we do not under-stand the problems.
In my opinion,. their explanations do not always make sense.
The NRC Resident Inspector, Roger Walker, had another problem.
He;is:a huge man and has trouble just walking up'the stairs; I do not know if he could squeeze in all the places,he'needs to look.
i I lost.my job in M t
Although I felt l.
_that is M
not.why. I am speaking out about. tha plant.
I have to v 7 ', -
L
\\
t s
1.K.*
=D='
L..
a.
l t
t-(
share what I know because I ara iscared.
I think the util-(ty, may really be willing to toperate the LaSalle plant 4
's d
with the. reactor pedestal in:a, weakened conditi,on.
f I
I i
- g. cannot accept that. <L'2fM@ cSf4LNW*N -G::ane-i
$Q& Y&
1
'l
~. :
r ([W G L W.f%nc.Edic:*4'DWarro wimm r
i I have. read the above 6 pagesste.tement, and it is l
true, accurate a'nd complete'to the:best of my knowledge l
and. belief.
t' i
i e
,l
\\
I l
SUBSCRIBED !AND Sh'ORN 'TO DEF RE A1E TIIIS J/# DA Y '
OF.Z44 /[
1982.
~
7 0
YA 5
patary.pu u.t.i c I
l 1
o
~ ' '.
\\
l
.... gi
.s
\\
e;.
.*i*
e f.***g s.
- r.. s
- i 8
3 r
e i
i I
.