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Counterfeit Parts Warning at Nuclear Power Plants Issued by the NRC.
Ocuupational Health and Safety Online ^ | April 9, 2008

Posted on 04/11/2008 9:11:20 AM PDT by trane250

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a notice Monday reminding reactor license applicants and nuclear power plant operators to prevent counterfeit parts from posing a safety concern. The notice cites two counterfeit valves at the Hatch facility near Baxley, Ga., of which NRC learned in November 2007, and one of these was installed as a cooling water pump discharge stop check valve on Hatch Unit 2. Catawba, a facility in Rock Hill, S.C., removed four circuit breakers from its stock after checking and being unable to confirm their authenticity, according to the notice, which stresses that none of these items was installed in a safety-related application.

"In recent years many vendors, including foreign companies, with little to no experience in the nuclear industry have entered the market to supply parts and components for both safety and non-safety applications to nuclear power plants," the notice states. "It remains the licensee's responsibility to ensure that all suppliers use standards and processes that conform to US standards. Effective oversight of suppliers becomes increasingly more important as the nuclear industry begins construction of new nuclear power plants in the US."

"Nuclear power plants require high-quality components that meet rigorous standards," Bill Borchardt, director of NRC's Office of New Reactors, said in the agency's April 8, 2008, news release. "As the industry prepares for possible new plants, we want both utilities and construction companies to ensure their suppliers are up to the job."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: china; counterfeit; globalization; nuclear
As more industrial companies cease US operations, the domestic supply sources of critical components either shrink or disappear entirely. This leaves the field wide open to foreign counterfeiters most of whom are in China.
1 posted on 04/11/2008 9:11:21 AM PDT by trane250
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To: trane250

Lead paint was the trigger.


2 posted on 04/11/2008 9:20:04 AM PDT by Boblo
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To: trane250

I am finding replacement parts harder to get. I am waiting on something now. The appliance I bought (yogurt maker)was made in China and so too are replacement items. I have waited since december.


3 posted on 04/11/2008 9:26:25 AM PDT by fishhound (Boycott the Olympics in China.)
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To: trane250

Always check the feedback.

4 posted on 04/11/2008 9:35:05 AM PDT by billorites (Freepo ergo sum)
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To: trane250
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a notice ... to prevent counterfeit parts from posing a safety concern.

< snip>

The notice ...stresses that none of these items was installed in a safety-related application.

=== === ===

The notice is confusing. The notice warns about safety concerns but cites parts that were installed in a non-safety related application.

5 posted on 04/11/2008 10:28:43 AM PDT by kidd
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To: kidd
The notice cites two counterfeit valves at the Hatch facility near Baxley, Ga., of which NRC learned in November 2007, and one of these was installed as a cooling water pump discharge stop check valve on Hatch Unit 2.

Looks like the NRC is speaking out of both sides of its mouth simultaneously.

A stop and check valve IS a safety related device. It prevents reverse flow of the liquid it is controlling even when the pump it is attached to is not operating, and completely seals the downstream side of the piping when used as a stop valve.

For the regulators to say this is not safety related is misleading and disengenuous at the very least.

6 posted on 04/11/2008 10:47:04 AM PDT by Don W ( Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? . . . He's all right now...)
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To: Don W

I reviewed the information notice.

The valve in question was part of the system that cools the stator (the stationary part) of the generator. If this cooling system failed, in the worst case scenario, the generator would overheat and the plant would not generate electricity.

A possible commercial issue, but not a safety issue.

Furthermore, the NRC did NOT mention that this was a safety issue; the referenced article made that leap. The NRC DID make the following statement:

“In recent years many vendors, including foreign companies, with little to no experience in the nuclear industry have entered the market to supply parts and components for both safety and non-safety applications to nuclear power plants. It remains the licensees’ responsibility to ensure that all suppliers use standards and processes that conform to US standards. Effective oversight of suppliers becomes increasingly more important as the nuclear industry begins construction of new nuclear power plants in the US.”

This is just a gentle reminder to plants to use quality parts, as was contained in a March 1989 notice to plant operators.

IOW - this article reports an event that was rather unremarkable.


7 posted on 04/11/2008 12:04:31 PM PDT by kidd
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To: kidd

You’ve obviously never been near a large turbo-generator when it fails. Granted, the majority of the public (excepting a nearby tour group) was never in any danger, but the operating engineers certainly were.


8 posted on 04/11/2008 9:22:20 PM PDT by Don W ( Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? . . . He's all right now...)
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