http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0318/GE-defends-reactors-in-Japan-nuclear-crisis<snip>
Mark 1 design scrutinized
The Japan nuclear crisis has brought scrutiny on GE for its Mark I design, which was criticized in the 1970s as susceptible to explosion and rupture. Three GE employees quit in 1975 in protest over safety concerns around the Mark 1 and US regulators even considered discontinuing the system
The world's biggest nuclear-equipment supplier, however, has maintained that its containment vessel design is reliable in the face of reports this week of possible design weaknesses.
"We’d like to set the record straight," GE said in a statement Friday. "The Mark I meets all regulatory requirements and has performed well for over 40 years."
GE points to a statement in 1980 from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which advised that it had given careful consideration to concerns raised in a 1972 memorandum by Stephen Hanauer, an Atomic Energy Commission official, who said that the Mark I's smaller containment design was more susceptible to explosion. The NRC found that the commission's "staff, including Dr. Hanauer, has concluded that the pressure suppression concept for containment design is safe.”
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