The UK Guardian reports February 1, 2023:
"The Royal Navy has ordered an urgent investigation amid claims that workers on [HMS Trident SSBN] fixed broken bolts in the vessel’s reactor chamber using glue.
The faulty repairs on the cooling pipes aboard the HMS Vanguard were found after one of the bolts fell off during an inspection, the Sun reported.
The bolt heads originally came off due to over-tightening. But, rather than replacing the damaged shafts, staff at the defence contractor Babcock implemented a quick fix and glued them back on.
Engineers at the contractor reported it as a procedural glitch after the problem was found, but did not mention the botched nature of the repair.
A [UK RN] source told the newspaper: “It’s a disgrace. You can’t cut corners with nuclear. Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.”
The glued bolts held insulation in place on the coolant pipes in the nuclear reactor and were found just as workers were set to fire it up to full power for the first time, the newspaper reported...."
2 comments:
Hi Pete
Clearlty an amazing managerial/operators cultural issue beyond the Nuclear Industry.
Who are these guys: (lowest bidders?) subcontractors of subcontractors... of Babcock?
For whatever reasons, non nominal tolerances, operator (fitter) human error..these things happen on a shop floor
In the N industry this has to be reported, repaired by an approved method, retested with an approved non destuctive technique probably (Xrays , Accoustics ..) and ..documented as a "deviation"...
In any Industry the operator should come forward, and especially if a human error (training?)occurred he should be complimented in public (shift meeting and above). Certainly not reprimanded or even worse fired as I read in the press comments!
This is the basic training of any young engineer or supervisor in Manufacturing/Shop floor Mngt and is enforced up the ladder
Hi Anonymous @Feb 2, 2023, 12:08:00 AM and /Kjell
Thanks for your comments. Surprising how shipbuilding companies, or at least some of their workers, risk a:
- dangerous technical situation
- a public and RN "customer" outcry, and
- broader UK government censure.
Regards Pete
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