Radioactive Water Leaks from Michigan Nuclear Power Plant

By
Gabriel Caplett
– 12/04/2010

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says no workers were affected during a 100,000 gallon radioactive water release at the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant, in Monroe County.  A formal report will not be made because the reactor was not operating and the accident wasn’t considered significant enough of a risk.  The accident happened when the plant was restarted after sitting idle for a month for maintenance.

Some more information from the Monroe News:

DTE Energy confirmed Thursday that an undetermined amount of radioactive water flooded some areas of its Fermi 2 nuclear power plant on Wednesday afternoon, contaminated some workers’ clothing, and entered the plant’s sewer system.

The problem occurred when a drain valve stuck open on a system that filters water condensed from radioactive steam, causing a holding tank to overflow. The overflow then filled a ventilation line and spilled into portions of the plant’s turbine building and radwaste building.

This post was written by

Gabriel Caplett – who has written 106 posts on Headwaters - Community Journalism for the Great Lakes.

Gabriel Caplett is a writer and market farmer from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

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