Counterfeit Parts Warning at Nuclear Power Plants Issued by the NRC.

Ocuupational Health and Safety Online ^ | April 9, 2008

[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."

[trane250]

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.

[Boblo]

Lead paint was the trigger.

[fishhound]

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.

[billorites]

Always check the feedback.

[kidd]

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.

[Don W]

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.

[kidd]

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.

[Don W]

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.