Regulators allowed an Ohio nuclear plant along Lake Erie to restart this week despite knowing about additional cracks near the top of the reactor's concrete shell, according to a plant spokesperson.

The Davis-Besse plant closed in October because of hairline cracks discovered near the base of the shell, which protects the reactor from outside debris. Last month, plant operator FirstEnergy Corp. found more cracks near the top and informed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, company spokeswoman Jennifer Young said.

"At no point did we attempt to hide that," she said.

NRC allowed the plant to restart this week, giving FirstEnergy until the end of February to discover what caused the damage (Greenwire, Dec. 5).

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a plant opponent, criticized FirstEnergy, saying the company needs to release all the details it has about the cracks.

"FirstEnergy risks loss of public confidence if it continues to tell the people of Ohio one thing and the NRC another," Kucinich said in a statement.

Davis-Besse has shut down a few times in the past decade for other repairs, including between 2002 and 2004 for an acid leak that NRC called the worst corrosion ever discovered at a reactor in the United States. FirstEnergy paid $5.45 million in fines and $28 million in civil penalties for the leak (John Seewer, AP/ABC News, Dec. 8). -- AP