Callaway Tries to Cut Costs

Last December, a backup pump that's designed to send water to steam generators at the Callaway Nuclear Plant in Missouri failed to do its job. A piece of foam from a storage tank seal had weakened with age and broken loose, lodging in the pump's intake valve during a routine test, NRC reports show. Had the other backup pumps been turned on, they too could have ingested loose foam and become clogged, presenting a potential cooling problem if the main systems failed.

As had happened at Davis-Besse, the plant had ignored industry warnings and deferred inspections, according to an NRC review. Full article here.