Ever since a football-sized hole was in discovered in the reactor at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant in March of 2002, federal regulators have been exercising increased scrutiny of the plant, including plant owner FirstEnergy's efforts to re-open and its operations since then. (see March 9, 2004). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission uses a special panel - known as an 0350 panel - to provide an extra measure of oversight for any nuclear plant that runs into serious trouble.
For nearly three years, Region 3 senior administrator and nuclear engineer Jack Grobe has served as chairman of the Davis-Besse 0350 panel. This January, Grobe leaves Region for NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland to become Director of Nuclear Security Special Projects. Davis-Besse was not Grobe's first experience with the difficult job of holding faltering nuclear plants to higher standards.
ideastream's Karen Schaefer spoke with Grobe at his last 0350 panel meeting in December of 2004 about the legacy the Davis-Besse plant leaves behind in the industry and the NRC. She began by asking him to compare his chairmanship of the Davis-Besse panel with the other three 0350 panels Grobe has chaired over his NRC career.