nuclear-news

Radioactive spill reported in Northeast Ohio nuclear power plant

 Dec. 18, 2024, By Zachary Smith, cleveland.com

PERRY, Ohio — At least 78 gallons of water containing radioactive chemicals were spilled at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Lake County in 2024, according to a voluntary report from its parent corporation, Texas-based Vistra Corp.

In its report to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Vistra says that on Oct. 14, “manipulation of a lid upon a container holding radiological waste” in an outdoor radiologically-controlled area spilled “contaminated water from the container” onto the ground of the Lake County facility.

When plant personnel conducted subsequent research into the event, they found that a total of “78.5 gallons of contaminated water had spilled to the ground” since January 2024, according to the report. Vistra described that figure as a “conservative” estimate.

A representative from Vistra told cleveland.com that this was because the “storage cask lid was not tightly sealed,” allowing rainwater to enter the cask and “causing it to overflow.”

Vistra calculated its estimate of 78.5 gallons of spilled contaminated water by using the recorded rainfall from January to October of this year, the representative said.

Two chemicals contaminated the water, according to the report. The first was cobalt-60, which can cause cancer if someone is exposed to it over a long period, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The second was the less-toxic manganese-54……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

In May, the Perry Nuclear Power Plant closed so inspectors could find and repair a coolant leak.

Perry Nuclear Power Plant was expected to close in 2021 because it was no longer profitable compared to natural gas plants. This was initially avoided when Ohio House Bill 6 was signed into law in July 2019. H.B. 6 added a fee to residents’ utility bills that funded subsidies of $150 million per year to keep Perry and the Davis–Besse nuclear plant operational.

However, the state blocked the collection and distribution of the H.B. 6 nuclear bailout fee.

This was partly due to H.B. 6 being part of the Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s $60 million bribery scheme to benefit FirstEnergy Corp, which Energy Harbor was a subsidiary of at the time.  https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/12/radioactive-spill-reported-in-northeast-ohio-nuclear-power-plant.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawHUI2hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRGZZd3bsRqINuMTDChN1SbcOe9WmyzTMNhIXv48Ps6MxNLvPnj74LdJZQ_aem_yhJN1nrwRbcSYx1Ps_WPHg

December 23, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized