Crack in Reactor Pipe Leads to Testing

A broken pipe found at a nuclear plant in South Carolina in October has led federal regulators to look at the safety of pipes at other nuclear plants in the country.

A pipe that carried 600-degree contaminated water out of the nuclear reactor core at South Carolina Electric & Gas Co.'s V.C. Summer Nuclear Station had a 2.7-inch tear in it. The tear was along a weld seam in the pipe. The pipe is being tested at a Westinghouse plant to see if the problem was an anomaly or whether it could occur at other plants.

The crack caused a leak that spilled 100 pounds of boric acid, but regulators said it never posed an environmental threat.

While this instance is the first time a crack like this has been reported in the United States, Sweden and Spain have reported similar weld cracks at nuclear reactors.

The SCE&G nuclear plant has been shut down. It may be restarted after Jan. 1.