U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issues Construction Oversight Warning After SRS Problems Found

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has warned the nuclear industry to be careful in its construction oversight after finding problems at the Savannah River Site.

The site will produce nuclear reactor fuel from weapons-grade plutonium.

Specifically, The Greenville News reports, the warning addresses bad concrete and faulty reinforcing steel in the foundation of the Savannah River plant.

In a report filed last week by the NRC, officials said problems discovered during construction of the plant near Aiken and two nuclear plants in Europe are reminders of problems found during the last wave of American nuclear construction in the 1970s and 1980s.

Construction on the $4.7 billion plant began last summer.

A spokesman for AREVA, one of the private partners building and operating the plant, had no comment on the report.

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