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Illinois nuclear reactor shut down

Reactor shuts down, releases steam at Illinois nuclear plant after losing outside power  Washington Post, Associated Press,   January 30 BYRON, Ill. — A nuclear reactor at a northern Illinois plant shut down Monday after losing power, and steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators.

Unit 2 at Byron Generating Station shut down around 10:18 a.m., after losing power from an off-site source, Exelon officials said. Diesel generators began supplying power to the plant equipment and operators began releasing steam from the non-nuclear side of the plant to help
cool the reactor, officials said.

Even though the turbine is not turning to produce electricity, “you still need to cool the equipment.” said U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng. Releasing steam helps “take away some of that energy still being produced by nuclear reaction but that doesn’t have anywhere to go now.”

The steam contains low levels of radioactive tritium, but the levels are safe for workers and the public, federal and plant officials said….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/reactor-shuts-down-releases-steam-at-illinois-nuclear-plant-after-losing-outside-power/2012/01/30/gIQALf13cQ_story.html

February 1, 2012 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

“Decommissioning” Fukushima nukes to take a very long time

Freezing Fukushima Nuclear Plant Leaks Water TOKYO, Japan, January 30, 2012 (ENS)“…..Decommissioning is expected to take 40 years and require the use of robots and new technologies to remove the melted nuclear fuel, the Japanese government said in December. Continue reading →

February 1, 2012 Posted by | decommission reactor, Japan | 1 Comment

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