Reactor-head inquiry to be public-forum topic

OAK HARBOR, Ohio — Results of the federal investigation into the rapid deterioration of Davis-Besse's replacement head will be discussed at a public meeting here Thursday.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials who performed a special inspection at the Ottawa County nuclear plant will present their findings at what is being described by the agency as an exit meeting.

Viktoria Mitlyng, a spokesman for the commission, said such meetings often are not public. This one is because of public interest in the plant's reactor head, she said.

The plant's old reactor head nearly burst and allowed radioactive steam to form in containment eight years ago. During a shutdown this year, FirstEnergy Corp. employees found cracks developing in nozzles jutting out of the nuclear reactor's replacement head. The long metal tubes were made years ago of Alloy 600, a metal being phased out by the industry.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. in the Oak Harbor High School auditorium, 1161 West State Rt. 163. The regulatory agency said it will issue a final report by late October.