BELVIDERE — The 2009 fatal explosion at a synthetic quartz manufacturing plant in Belvidere was caused by corrosion in the walls of a pressure vessel that went uninspected for years, officials announced Thursday.The U.S. Chemical Safety Board determined that staff at NDK Crystal, 701 Crystal Parkway, ignored safety recommendations to inspect the interior walls of the vessels, even after a consultant warned the company about the dangers of the operation.The Illinois Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety did not adhere to state regulations by conducting internal vessel inspections, either, instead relying on NDK to complete the inspections. It didn’t verify that the inspections were taking place.If someone would have inspected the interior walls of the vessels, he would have learned that the material coating the steel vessel walls was not protecting them from corrosion.
The actual government report is on line at: http://www.csb.gov/csb-finds-fatal-2009-ndk-explosion-resulted-from-stress-corrosion-cracking-of-high-pressure-vessel-crystal-maker-failed-to-inspect-or-test-vessels-and-to-heed-earlier-warning-about-risk-to-public-/
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