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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II
101 Marietta St., Suite 2900, Atlanta, GA 30323 | CONTACT: |
Ken Clark (Phone: 404-331-5503, E-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov ) |
Roger Hannah (Phone 404-331-7878, E-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov ) |
No: II-96-80 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ken Clark (404) 331-5503 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)
Roger Hannah (404) 331-7878
NRC STAFF FORMS AUGMENTED INSPECTION TEAM (AIT)
TO REVIEW OCONEE STEAM LINE RUPTURE EVENT
Preliminary Findings Will Be Discussed In Public Meeting
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has formed a special Augmented
Inspection Team (AIT) to review circumstances associated with the rupture of an
18-inch steam line at the Oconee nuclear power plant near Seneca, South Carolina
on September 24 which sent seven workers to the hospital.
NRC officials said the AIT supersedes a team of inspectors sent to the site
immediately after the event and will be led by and staffed by those same inspectors
with the addition of specialists from the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
On September 24, at 4:44 p.m., an 18-inch steam line ruptured in the non-nuclear area of the plant where maintenance personnel were working on valves in
the basement of the Unit 2 turbine building. Seven workers were injured and
transported to hospitals for treatment.
The injured workers had no radioactive contamination, and the event posed no
threat to plant workers not in the immediate area or to residents near the site.
The team will hold an open exit meeting with company officials upon
completion of its inspection to discuss preliminary findings. The team leader,
Thomas A. Peebles, a Branch Chief in the NRC's Division of Reactor Safety in
Atlanta, will meet with interested members of the public and news media
representatives to answer their questions at the conclusion of the exit meeting.
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