A nuclear power plant along the Delaware River remains shut down as operators investigate a cooling system leak.
Neil Sheehan with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says the Salem One nuclear power plant powered down Thursday evening due to water and steam leaking inside the facility’s containment building.
“They saw spikes and unidentified leakage yesterday that got as high as 4.5 -- nearly 5 -- gallons per minute and so they did try to make some valve manipulation adjustments to halt that leakage," said Sheehan. "They were unsuccessful in doing that so therefore they had to shut down.”
NRC inspectors monitored the shutdown, which involved lowering control rods into the reactor’s uranium core to suppress nuclear fission.
Sheehan says the water is from the plant’s cooling system and “slightly radioactive,” but poses no danger to public health.
“All this leakage is contained within that containment structure that houses the reactor and now the inspectors are going to continue to follow up as the company goes in does these evaluations and then makes any necessary repairs,” said Sheehan.
Sheehan adds the leak has been traced to a pressurizer system valve that was replaced and rebuilt earlier this year.
He says, if deemed an “unplanned” shut down, the plant’s rolling average would be 2.8. He says an average higher than three shut-downs would require increased oversight by the NRC.
The Salem One nuclear plant is one of three reactors operated by PSEG Nuclear and located about 10 miles east of Middletown.