The Washington Monthly's Monthly Journalism Award

Washington Monthly, March, 2003

JOHN MANGELS, JOHN FUNK, AND STEPHEN KOFF For an ongoing series on the Davis-Besse Nuclear POwer Station The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2002

Mangels, Funk, and Koff conducted a year-long investigation into the Davis-Besse nuclear reactor in Oak Harbor, Ohio, which last month was found to be severely corroded, almost to the point of rupturing. The Plain Dealer's three-member team led the way in reporting on the failure of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to investigate the plant's parent company, First Energy Nuclear Operating Company, and exposed the corporate neglect and regulatory failure that is rife in the nuclear power industry. By examining thousands of documents and interviewing sources around the world, they uncovered the story of how First Energy took two years to declare to the NRC their knowledge of a serious corrosion problem on the massive steel lid covering Davis-Besse's radioactive core, which imperiled thousands of lives in the nearby community. The Plain Dealer series triggered widespread awareness and led to calls for investigations of both First Energy and the NRC.