Investigators have discovered a half-inch long crack around a nozzle on one of the tanks of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, and have attributed the crack to the water leakage that spilled radioactive water into Lake Michigan on May 5.
The plant, which is located on the shore of the great lake and
operated by Entergy, was shut down after the water tank exceeded
its site threshold and leaked. Authorities say the crack led to
about 79 gallons of “slightly radioactive water” spilling from
the Palisades plant into the lake, WOOD-TV reports.
The leak came from a 300,000-gallon injection and refueling
tank, which floods and cools the nuclear reactor with borated water
during refueling outages. It also removes heat from the reactor
when there is a loss of coolant by sourcing the safety injection
system.
This month’s incident marks the second time the injection and
refueling tank leaked, and caused the ninth shutdown of the plant
since September 2011. Since 2012, the plant shut down six times as
a result of leaks.
It took operators about a week and a half to find the source of
the leak. But even though authorities acknowledged that the leaking
water was radioactive, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission claims
that this poses no risk to the local community, since it is was
diluted.
“The NRC’s radiation dose limits are based on scientific
studies and have not been shown to cause harmful health
effects,” NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng told MLive. “The
NRC regularly reviews new information to make sure the agency’s
limits are optimal for protecting public health. But this was an
unplanned release that should not have happened.”
The NRC says the assessed dose to the public was 0.002 percent
of the federal limit. The maximum dose to the public is limited to
0.1 rem per year. But because the Palisades plant has been shut
down nine times since September 2011 and has frequently leaked in
the past, Americans have expressed deep concern over the lack of
safety that repeatedly causes problems in the lakeside Covert
Township, Mich.
David Lochbaum, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’
nuclear safety project, told MLive that it is unacceptable for the
plant to suffer repeated leaks, and that Entergy should repair it
properly rather than continuously patching up leaks. The NRC
mandates plant owners to find and fix all safety hazards.
“Applying Band-Aid fixes every few months is not complying
with this federal regulation,” he said. “The NRC must take
steps to ensure that a federal regulation developed to protect
public health and safety is consistently being met rather than
consistently being violated. ‘Patch and restart’ may be great for
generating revenue, but it is very bad for public safety.”
Congressman Fred Upton, the chair of the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce,on Mondaytook a tour of the plant
and announced that it will remain shut down until officials are
sure it is safe to re-start. He said 10 of the tank’s nozzles are
currently being upgraded and he will return to re-examine the plant
before it is restarted.
This article originally appeared on : RT