NRC estimates tritium release at Byron reactor
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| A loss of offsite power led to the shutdown of unit 2 Exelon's Byron Nuclear Generating Station on Monday. ( Chris Johnson - cjohnson@shawmedia.com) |
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CHICAGO – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the amount of radioactive tritium released in steam to cool a reactor during a shutdown at an Illinois nuclear plant was not enough to present a danger to the public.
Agency spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng said preliminary calculations indicate that the radiation dose from Monday's release at the Byron Generating Station was less than 0.001 (one one-thousandth) percent of the NRC's annual limit. That amount is thought to be safe to workers and the public.
Even less tritium escaped in a 2010 steam release at the Braidwood nuclear plant about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.
Final data will be available to the public after the Commission conducts a special investigation.
