Three Mile Island radiation leak investigated

[bijou]

Authorities at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant were investigating what caused a weekend radiation leak that resulted in 150 workers being sent home, officials said Sunday.

An airborne radiological contamination alarm sounded about 4 p.m. Saturday in the Unit 1 containment building, according to a statement from Exelon Nuclear, which operates the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. The unit had been shut down since October 26 for refueling, maintenance and steam generator replacement, the company said.

"A monitor at the temporary opening cut into the containment building wall to allow the new steam generators to be moved inside showed a slight increase in a reading and then returned to normal," the company said. "Two other monitors displayed normal readings."

Three Mile Island was the scene of the worst U.S. nuclear accident, a partial meltdown in 1979 that resulted in the plant's second reactor being shut down permanently. ...

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/11/22/pennsylvania.three.mile.island/

[jinxmchue]

Radiation poisoning.  Just go home and sleep it off.

[zeitgeist]

Radiation poisoning.  Just go home and sleep it off.

Mmm, mmmm, mmm, radiation, smells like hydrogen.


For those who missed "The Pepsi Syndrome" on SNL

Transcript link.

It was one of the funniest bits SNL ever did.  I can't seem to find it as a youtube.

[NHSparky]

Oh, Jesus H. Tapdancin Christ.  They're replacing the steam generators.  Cutting, grinding, that sort of thing.  Anything going airborne sets off the detectors, as is most likely the case.  I'd be interested to see how many people actually got CONTAMINATED.

IOW, much ado about nothing unless the NRC puts out a paper tomorrow.

[Ptarmigan]

Oh, Jesus H. Tapdancin Christ.  They're replacing the steam generators.  Cutting, grinding, that sort of thing.  Anything going airborne sets off the detectors, as is most likely the case.  I'd be interested to see how many people actually got CONTAMINATED.

IOW, much ado about nothing unless the NRC puts out a paper tomorrow.

False positives. Here is an article about the dangers of false positives.
http://billbucks.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-do-ray-nagin-diane-downs-and.html

[Rebel]

Been to Harrisburg several times. That damn thing is damn near in the flight path of the planes I was coming in on final. That would be a bitch to have that thing have a meltdown right below.

[AllosaursRus]

For cryin' out loud! Talk about "jumpin' the gun"!

More than likely this is nothin' more than concrete dust in the air! Watch how the anti-nuclear asshats use this to keep us from building electrical plants that would lower our dependency on Arab oil!

And the whining at the DUmp starts in 5....4....3.....2.....1.......

[Rebel]

For cryin' out loud! Talk about "jumpin' the gun"!

More than likely this is nothin' more than concrete dust in the air! Watch how the anti-nuclear asshats use this to keep us from building electrical plants that would lower our dependency on Arab oil!

And the whining at the DUmp starts in 5....4....3.....2.....1.......

I agree. The two I'm most familiar with, Grand Gulf and Plant Vogtle, I don't think have ever had problems. Hell, Plant Vogtle is right across the river from a few other reactors, at the Savannah River Site.