Getting Seabrook up and running is shrouded in hear-say from folks I know that lived in the area. Rumors of gold-brinking i.e. “slow down and let’s make this job last” on the construction side, as well as the paranoia of the protesters that there were people keeping tabs on them. Either way, I would guess the citizen’s of NH are glad it is up and running, but the journey their was not pretty....
“slow down and let’s make this job last”
There was more to it than even that. We do know that between the EPA and other good tyrannical departments and the alliance of nuclear opposition did much to cause the cost of the plant to skyrocket, what is also known from the insiders was the intent of union labor to extend the job at any cost. It was a goldmine in the era of Jimmy Carter. The laborers did several things to cause delays and cost money. One was simple theft of time and materials. Back then, nearly every tradesman had a pickup with a cap. Back then there were no video cameras on the premises nor were the guards very dedicated to their employers. Materials were driven out of the gates every day as every tradesman had side jobs to do. Not only that, if a senior tradesman needed some special electrical fixture or pipe, it would be ordered for them and driven out when delivered, all paid for by the investors of the plant.
Then there was the intentional faulty construction or equipment installation that the tradesmen caused. I know directly, as I was a junior engineer right out of college dealing with document control issues. Back then, it was all paper plans. When an electrical fixture was installed in a faulty location, all plans had to be up-revved to identify the error. A change-order had to be released showing the proper location and the actual steps to correct the issue. All earlier drawings (100’s) had to be recovered and 100’s of the change-order drawings had to be released. Now, the union guys would just ignore the ECO or change-order and relocate the fixture in a newer but still faulty location. This would go on for weeks on end.
Now you know the rest of the story.