US nuclear plant shut down due to leakage
Source: Agencies |
November 9, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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WORKERS at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in the United States detected radioactive water seeping from a leaky pipe on Sunday, forcing the plant to shut down to make repairs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the public was not in any danger.
Plant spokesman Larry Smith said the nuclear reactor was taken out of service at 7pm local time - he estimated it would take 13 hours for it to cool down enough for technicians to enter the area and begin making repairs.
The cause of the leak was not immediately known.
Smith said the leak was spotted during routine surveillance. It was coming from a pipe that was part of the circulation system involving the reactor. The water was being collected by a sump pump and cycled back through the system, he said.
Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said agency inspectors were overseeing the shutdown. He said the water would have low levels of radioactivity, such as tritium and other isotopes, as part of the usual plant operation.
"The levels are so low, they really wouldn't be harmful to anybody," Sheehan said. "There is no immediate health or safety concern as far as this leakage. Any leakage would be captured by the plant 掳?system, so there is no exposure to the public."
The water headed toward the reactor was radioactive because it had been through the reactor, Smith said.
Water is turned into steam in the reactor and later condensed back into water to run through the reactor again. "It's a closed loop," he said.
The outage was not expected to cause any shortage of power in New England.
The leak came three days after the plant's owner, NEntergy Corp, announced it hopes to sell the plant.
Plant spokesman Larry Smith said the nuclear reactor was taken out of service at 7pm local time - he estimated it would take 13 hours for it to cool down enough for technicians to enter the area and begin making repairs.
The cause of the leak was not immediately known.
Smith said the leak was spotted during routine surveillance. It was coming from a pipe that was part of the circulation system involving the reactor. The water was being collected by a sump pump and cycled back through the system, he said.
Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said agency inspectors were overseeing the shutdown. He said the water would have low levels of radioactivity, such as tritium and other isotopes, as part of the usual plant operation.
"The levels are so low, they really wouldn't be harmful to anybody," Sheehan said. "There is no immediate health or safety concern as far as this leakage. Any leakage would be captured by the plant 掳?system, so there is no exposure to the public."
The water headed toward the reactor was radioactive because it had been through the reactor, Smith said.
Water is turned into steam in the reactor and later condensed back into water to run through the reactor again. "It's a closed loop," he said.
The outage was not expected to cause any shortage of power in New England.
The leak came three days after the plant's owner, NEntergy Corp, announced it hopes to sell the plant.
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