A total of five axial cracks had been found in the two penetration nozzles following the discovery of small boric acid deposits in April (SEE NEI, June 2003). Additional examinations are being carried out on those cracks to determine their length and depth. STP officials have said that they might not find out the root cause of the five cracks before the planned restart of South Texas 1 late this summer. Steve Thomas, STP’s manager of plant design, said that plant personnel believe that the likely causes range from residual fabrication stresses to a lack of a J-groove weld fusion of the nozzle, or a combination of one or more of these factors with primary water stress corrosion cracking.
