 Nuclear Energy Information Service Illinois' Nuclear Power Watchdog for 25 Years |
Nuclear Mishaps |
| Nuclear Energy Information Service Illinois' Nuclear Power Watchdog for 25 Years |
Nuclear Mishaps |
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Here's a look at significant events and fines at nuclear plants in Illinois during the last 10 years:
- In September 1996, plant owner Illinois Power violated Nuclear Regulatory Commission procedures when attempting to repair a leaking pump and subsequently was fined $450,000. After the incident, the plant remained shut down for more than two years. Within that time frame, another fine of $110,000 was levied by the NRC due to problems with circuit breakers.
- Due to problems in part associated with the shutdown, the plant was placed on the NRC Watch List for plants with numerous problems or violations in January 1998. As one of about five reactors in the country (out of more than 100 operating nationwide) identified as warranting increased attention, it stayed on until the list was discontinued in mid-1999.
- In 1996, owner Commonwealth Edison was found to have risked clogging in a water intake tunnel as a result of a foam sealant injected to fill cracks overhead. As a result, the company was fined $650,000, one of the larger penalties ever levied by the NRC. Both of the plant's two reactors shut down in September 1996 and remained closed until 1998 and 1999.
- The plant was placed on the NRC watch list in January 1997, where it remained until the list was discontinued.
- In February 2006, the LaSalle plant declared a site area emergency, the second highest of the NRC's alerts, when indicators registered the incomplete insertion of three control rods in the reactor. The indicator was found to be false, and the reactor was under control.
- In multiple instances between 1996 and 2005, the plant at Braidwood released large amounts of low-level radioactive water from a leaky valve. The water, on its way to the Kankakee River, where it periodically is released and diluted, contained levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Exelon and the NRC have said the amount of tritium in the ground was not considered harmful, and while some drinking water was affected, it remained safe for consumption. The spills, which were kept quiet from the public for years, resulted in allegations of incompetence and lawsuits were brought forward against Exelon. Tritium leakage also occurred in recent years at the Byron Nuclear Power Station in Ogle County and the Dresden Nuclear Power Station in Grundy County.
Copyright 2004 - 2008 NEIS, Nuclear Energy Information Service
Last Revised
12/07/06