Accidents
U.S. Agencies Probe Fatal Lift Incident at Arkansas Nuke
The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are investigating a March 31 turbine lift accident at the Arkansas Nuclear One nuclear-plant site near Russellville that left one worker dead and injured eight others, agency spokespersons told Platt's, a sister publication of ENR, on April 1. They said it was too early to determine the extent of the damage to one 903-MW unit of the Entergy-owned plant, which was shut for refueling and maintenance, or to the 1,065-MW second unit, which was shut automatically after the accident. An Entergy spokesman told Platt's that officials are looking at why Unit 1's turbine lift device failed during the movement of its main turbine generator stator, which weighs about 500 tons, the firm said. The falling stator damaged water lines and electrical equipment. Entergy said Unit 2 suffered damage to its switchgear, but "full extent of structural damage" to unit 1 is unknown.
Contracts
ConsensusDOCS Publishes NewForm for Design-Build Teams
ConsensusDOCS late last month published a standard form, ConsensusDocs 498 Design-Build Teaming Agreement, for parties that wish to team up to submit a bid for a design-build project. The agreement is often a precursor to a joint-venture agreement, says Brian Perlberg, ConsensusDOCS executive director and counsel. The new ConsensusDOC form can include design professionals, contractors and other parties. One team member serves the role as team leader for the purposes of compiling and submitting the proposal as well as for negotiation of the owner agreement, if awarded. The standard document includes issues such as confidentiality, withdrawal from the team and document ownership. The form also addresses post-award considerations. Team members are required to enter into good-faith negotiations for a subsequent agreement covering the work. Details are available at www.ConsensusDocs.org.
Standards
ASHRAE Opens Revised Code For Public Comments
More than two-dozen proposed addenda to an energy standard, published by ASHRAE, formerly known as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, and the Illuminating Engineering Society, are available for public comment until either late April or early May, depending on the provision. The revised standard—called ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010: Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings—is scheduled for publication later this year. The 26 proposed changes are intended to make the standard 40% to 50% more stringent than the 2004 version. The standard's goal is to reduce building energy costs by 40%. One change would mandate, when cost-effective, direct digital control for certain applications in both new buildings and retrofits.
Environment
