Nevada Power Plant Blast Claims Its 3rd Victim

LAS VEGAS â€”  A third victim died Wednesday of injuries suffered when an explosion sent 1,000-degree steam through the control room of a power plant, authorities said.

Michael Bowman, 33, died shortly after 3 p.m. at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, where he had been listed in very critical condition with severe burns and internal injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Eleven other workers remained hospitalized in Las Vegas and Phoenix, seven of them in critical or very critical condition from injuries suffered in the Laughlin, Nev., explosion.

Bowman, of Bullhead City, Ariz., was a plant equipment operator at the facility when a 30-inch line exploded Sunday afternoon, spraying workers with scalding steam.

Died at Scene

One worker died at the scene, and another died a day later at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, where 12 of the most seriously injured employees were taken by emergency helicopters.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Nevada Public Service Commission said the explosion may boost power costs for Southern Nevadans by $10 million to $20 million.

Scott Craigie made the assessment following a tour of the damaged Mohave Generating Plant Tuesday. He said the possibility of asbestos contamination is much worse than originally thought and the plant will have to be shut longer than first predicted.

The operator of the plant, Southern California Edison, said one of the plant’s 750-megawatt generators will be shut down for a month and the second for three months.

But Craigie said the first generator would likely be shut down for three to four months and the second generator indefinitely.

The $245 million coal-fired plant supplies the lowest-cost source of energy in Nevada, providing 12% of the state’s power generation.

The plant also supplies power to Arizona and Southern California.

Because of the explosion, oil and gas may have to be used as more expensive backup sources of power, Craigie said.