Byron Nuclear Plant is one of eleven nuclear plants in Illinois. It is located seventeen miles southwest of Rockford in Byron, Illinois. Following what the operating company Exelon defined as an ‘unusual event’ at the plant on Monday, which they described as a sudden loss of power into the plant causing one of two reactors to automatically shut down, precautionary measures are being taken by both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to ensure that radioactive tritium released in the steam after the reactor shutdown, is at safe levels.
According to the operating company Exelon, an ‘unusual event’ is defined as “the lowest of the four emergency classifications established by the NRC. According to Exelon there was an equipment failure in a switchyard near the plant which triggered the automatic shutdown of Unit 2. (www.rrstar.com1/31/2012)
Byron Station Site Vice President, Tim Tulon, stated, “Our diesel generators performed as expected in providing continuous electricity to the unit during the ‘Unusual Event.’ Plant teams will now focus on a safe and measured approach in returning Unit 2 to the electrical grid.” (Brian Leaf, www.rrstar.com12/1/2012)
Although Exelon states that the situation is safe and stable, the issue of released tritium is being carefully assessed. Tritium, is a hydrogen isotope with low levels of radioactivity. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agents examining the incident, “there is no danger to the workers or the public.” However, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has started a Special Inspection to review the circumstances around the loss of offsite power that led to a Unit 2 reactor shutdown on Monday night.
The NRC special team began work yesterday and will examine how plant equipment responded to the loss of offsite power. They will review the sequence of events, evaluate the facts and circumstances, and review the plants actions surrounding the incident. The team will also review the plant’s evaluation of what happened, their plan for addressing the cause of the event, and the implementation of their corrective actions.
According to the NRC “there was a stream release from the non-nuclear side of the plant with trace amounts of tritium. This type of steam release is used by nuclear power plants to release pressure in order to maintain the plant in a stable condition. Doses to the public from this type of release are significantly below even the most stringent Federal protective limits and, therefore, do not pose a risk to public health or safety.” www.nrc.gov1/31/2012)
The full report of the incident will be posted at the NRC website within 45 days of the completion of the inspection.
In addition to NRC inspectors, Jonathon Monken, IEMA director, is also carefully monitoring the incident. Officials from the IEMA were at the plant yesterday collecting water and vegetation to confirm that stream released during the event posed no hazards to people. The results will be known in a few days.
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