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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1980)
THE BATTALION THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1980 Page 5 : -N Deficiencies found in existing welding work and soil backfill tricter quality controls promised r camt and»j ed yitwii 1 indsci; ■ Ue )mic i stbanli not bet wateim irapinj tragefc rs, tilln,: rch. United Press International HOUSTON — Consultants Houston Lighting & Power Co. hired to evaluate the South Texas Nuclear Project verified government charges of weak quality control, but an HL&P report made public Wednesday promised a reorganization — including near doubling of its on-site team — to eliminate deficiencies. Consultants also told HL&P they found failures in soil backfill and welding work already completed. Evaluation of finished concrete work was incomplete. HL&P told the NRC every deficiency will be evaluated in consultation with contractor Brown & Root Inc., and the NRC. The utility promised faulty work would be torn out and repaired. The information was part of HL&P’s response to an NRC threat to stop work at the 5-year-old project, still six years from completion, four years behind schedule. The NRC earlier fined HL&P $100,000 for violating NRC standards. The $2.7 billion plant, 10 miles southwest of Bay City is being built for utilities in Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Austin. The NRC has scheduled a public meeting Aug. 19 in Bay City to discuss HL&P’s response. Pending NRC approval, safety-related concrete pouring, stopped since December, and safety-related welding, stopped since April, remain suspended — putting the project further behind schedule. “These HL&P commitments, faithfully executed, pro vide assurance that the construction activities at STP are, and will be, conducted in accordance with applicable requirements, are consistent with the public health and Jbortion suit overturned :ra| ed fteroon i heReail act COE® United Press International mday ■AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme ;eCente|ourt rejected the latest attempt tire o Wednesday by right to life groups to msetepertum or circumvent earlier court iiyster decisions allowing abortions during circa the first trimester of pregnancy to secluc be a matter decided by the woman and her physician. invobtBrhe court, without written com- consf jnent. upheld a Houston trial court HourJdecision that Eileen Brady, a but soBther of six affiliated with an anti- andon abortion group, had no legal stand- : on string to file a class action suit on know behalf of an unborn child seeking an id Gil Injunction preventing a woman nedy. identified as “Jane Doe” from hav- :mooi ing an abortion. rmed :r Brady first filed the suit as tem- lership horary guardian of the unborn child, Troielmt later amended it to a next-of- ty ther friend action on behalf of all unborn TCts'H children in Texas. > one H lhe pregnant woman had called ictor. the Abortion Information Center, jr Teottiich was listed in the yellow pages ' and l|f the telephone directory under >e sole fhe “birth control” listing, seeking ■ormation about an abortion, cated epWithin four days the unmarried If Cointf-year-old was served with papers s west'Ptifying her of Brady’s suit to pre vent her from having an abortion. «Ma«[ Brady did not know the pregnant pliRBORNil |H i'THE DIFFICULT WE DO IM-f til safety and, therefore, work should not be stopped,” • HL&P vice president George Oprea said. The NRC ordered HL&P to consider several alternative quality control systems including the current system putting Brown & Root in charge, a system putting HL&P in charge and a third system turning quality control over to an outside consultant. HL&P said in the report it had evaluated findings by consultant Bechtel Power Corp. and decided to retain the current system, putting Brown & Root in charge and HL&P in a supervisory capacity, although the companies outlined modifications touted as expanding HL&P’s role and improving Brown & Root accountable. HL&P said it will double its on-site quality assurance team from 25 people to 45. Brown & Root said it replaced its on-site quality assurance manager and several middle managers and canceled a quality inspector orientation that the NRC said over-emphasized the importance of cost and schedule. Both companies said they had moved an additional level of management to the site and hired consultants to help improve quality control. Bechtel warned. “No amount of corrective action to the individual findings will have a lasting effect unless HL&P management adopts and promulgates a ‘quality first’ philosophy, with only the safety of the work force having a higher priority. . . The quality functions of HL&P and B&R must be strengthened.” HL&P reported it created a task force, including outside consultants, to make NRC-required inspection of completed safety-related welding, including structural and pipe welds. Although the study remained incomplete the team had found several failures in work already done. HL&P said the task force reevaluated all weld A-rays and found 24 percent “unacceptable” because of improper documentation or flaws. The task force also ran tests on a random sample of 80 previously accepted welds and found 14 of 43 socket welds and seven of 35 pipe butt welds “unsatisfactory.” None of 14 uranium fuel rod control drive welds were found unsatisfactory. In another evaluation the welding task force said it found 6 of 79 randomly selected structural steel welds contained “certain irregularities” and speculated “weld acceptance criteria were not always properly applied by some inspectors.” The report said: “All rejectable indications flaws in welds will be repaired and reinspected for final acceptance unless the welds are imbedded in concrete. In these cases an engineering evaluation will be performed to determine the necessity of repair.” HL&P reported consultants ran NRC-required tests of soil compaction under the plant and found four substan dard areas, none directly under a nuclear plant building. The consultant said none of the weak areas was significant enough to require correction. HL&P also reported it created a task force, including outside consultants, to make NRC-required study of completed safety-related concrete pours and although the evaluation was not complete said preliminary findings were “no deficiencies requiring repair work have been identified.” woman, and is not related to her. A Houston trial court dismissed the case and the woman had the abortion. Joann Doughtie, attorney for “Jane Doe,” said Wednesday she was delighted by the court decision but said the legal battle may not be over. “They have been very persistent, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they attempt some federal hearing on it, ” she said. In her appeal to the state Su preme Court, Brady contended the court should have permitted her “next-of-friend” suit on behalf of the unborn child “in a case like this where the mothers, who should be the natural protectors of their un born children, become their mortal enemies, and such unborn children are left defenseless and friendless for the protection of the rights and vital interests. “In Texas, one who is charged with the most heinous of crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet legally cognizable unborn hu man beings, blameless before the court, were left doomed to die at the hands of their ‘mothers’ and their abortionists.” The trial court had ruled Brady did not have legal standing to file suit as next-of-friend of an unborn child because an earlier U.S. Su preme Court decision had deter mined unborn children are not “persons” under the law. The court also noted the Supreme Court decision in the earlier Texas case Roe vs. Wade made it clear abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy are a matter to be de cided by a woman and her physi cian. The Texas Supreme Court Wed nesday upheld the lower court deci sions in the Houston case without written comment. lay ay ■9« IY CIM 'THE DIFFICULT WE DO IM MEDIATELY, THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES A LITTLE LONGER" AGENT AERO AIR FREIGHT SERVICES WE DO MORE THAN DELIVER YOUR PACKAGE OVERNIGHT WE GUARANTEE IT! 150 CITIES $22.11 UP TO 2 LBS. HE FREIGHT PROBLEM SOLVERS PH: 713-779-FAST P.O. 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