In 1979, when the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg suffered a partial meltdown, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission turned to a team of engineers from Westinghouse in Monroeville to help contain the damage.

That team called itself Salvatori's Raiders and even had T-shirts printed with the name and the Italian flag. Salvatori was Romano Salvatori, an Italian immigrant and brilliant engineer who led the team to design and build an emergency cooling system within two months of the accident.

Mr. Salvatori, formerly of Point Breeze, who had retired to Winter Park, Fla., died Aug. 19 at Florida Hospital in Winter Park from complications of multiple myeloma. He was 72.

Tony Massaro, a member of the team lead by Mr. Salvatori, said the plant had been designed and manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox, but it was the Westinghouse team that was called in to solve the problem of building an emergency coolant system.

"He was a recognized expert in nuclear power," Mr. Massaro said.

"He was very creative and innovative in attacking technical problems, contract issues and customer issues," said Jim Gallagher, another former Westinghouse engineer who worked with Mr. Salvatori.

Mr. Salvatori was born and raised in Foggia, Italy, and graduated from the University of Roma in Rome in 1962 after completing a five-year program from which he received a master's degree in electrical engineering.

He was hired by Westinghouse in 1965 and persuaded his wife, Mariolina, who had been his high school sweetheart, to leave their hometown and move to Pittsburgh with their young daughter, Pia. Their second daughter, Olga, was born less than a month after they arrived.

He traveled both in the U.S. and overseas for Westinghouse, representing the company to customers and overseeing the design and construction of nuclear power plants. He rose through the ranks to become the general manager of the Power Generation Division. In 1991, the company awarded him with its highest honor, the Westinghouse Order of Merit.

In 1995, he became the president of Nations Energy Corp., a subsidiary of Tucson Power Electric Co., where he finished his career.

He is survived by his wife; two daughters, Pia DiSanto of Downingtown, Chester County, and Olga Salvatori-Manning of Mt. Lebanon; two brothers, Adriano of Rome and Enrico of Foggia, Italy; two sisters, Maria Buzzanca of Rome and Anna Maria Bellusci of Foggia, Italy; and four grandchildren.

A Mass will be celebrated at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Winter Park, Fla., at 10:30 a.m. today. A memorial service will be held at a later date in Pittsburgh.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations in Mr. Salvatori's name be made to the International Myeloma Foundation, 12650 Riverside Drive, Suite 206, North Hollywood, CA 91607-3421.

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