[BETA] Fortnightly

On December 6, the jury in a three-month-old trial found that Westinghouse Electric did not engage in fraud by supplying two nuclear reactors with allegedly faulty steam generators to Duquesne Light Co. and four co-owners of the Beaver Valley I and II nuclear plants. The utilities had sought $350 million in compensatory damages, and originally charged Westinghouse with RICO violations, breach of contract and warranty, as well as fraud. But in October, U.S. District Court Judge Alan Bloch dismissed all of the charges except fraud.

Duquesne operates the plants on behalf of the co-owners, and claims that continual cracking in the steam tubing could require generator replacement by 1997. Upon losing the trial, the utilities released a statement claiming: "Testimony was presented that inherent defects in [Westinghouse's] design, workmanship, and materials have caused the tube corrosion and cracking in the nuclear steam generators and that the problem is so serious that the generators will have to be replaced after having operated for less than half of their promised 40-year design life." The co-owners (em which include Cleveland Electric and Illumination Co., Toledo Edison Co., Ohio Edison Co., and Pennsylvania Power Co. (em plan to appeal the decision. (em LB

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