The Nation : Another Crack Found in Nuclear Reactor

A new crack was discovered in the cooling system of a closed nuclear power reactor at the Savannah River plant used for making atomic weapons, a federal official said. P. William Kaspar, the manager of the Energy Department’s field office at the military plant near Aiken, S.C., said the crack was found beneath the K reactor--one of the three reactors that were shut down last spring because of safety concerns. Kaspar said the crack represents no danger to people or the environment. The Savannah River reactors are the nation’s only source of tritium, a perishable isotope that decays at the rate of 5.5% a year and must be replenished periodically in nuclear warheads. The crack was discovered only days after the Du Pont Corp., which manages the plant, notified the government of cracks in a coolant pipe at reactor L. Those cracks were detected in April, and the Energy Department, which owns the facility, is investigating the 8-month delay in notifying the government.