OOPS!

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@ICX.NET>]

Britain Nuclear Accident Probed



LONDON (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation  - 

Spent fuel rods were accidentally dropped onto the reactor floor of a

nuclear power plant in Scotland last week, its operator said Sunday.



British Nuclear Fuels stressed that the ``low-level'' incident during

refueling Thursday in Chapelcross plant's Reactor No. 3 posed minimal

danger.



The reactor has been shut down while the company determines how to

retrieve the 24 uranium rods, a spokesman said.



The government's watchdog agency, the Nuclear Installations

Inspectorate, has launched an investigation.



The BNFL spokesman said the rods dropped about 2 feet to the floor

during the remote-operated refueling operation.



A large cylindrical basket holding the irradiated fuel elements appeared

to come loose as it was being lowered to a cooling pond, he said.



Emergency workers were called in and carbon dioxide was sprayed

over the basket to ensure it did not catch fire.



``At no time was there any increase in radiation within the area and no

personnel were affected,'' he said. ``There is also no indication that

the fuel has been damaged.''



Refueling has been suspended at all reactors in Chapelcross, just a few

miles from Scotland's border with England, and at another British plant

that uses an identical system.



The spokesman said it was unclear how long it would take to recover the

rods and complete the refueling.

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

                       -----                       

A schedule of meetings on DOE issues is posted on our Web site

http://www.local-oversight.org/meetings.html - E-mail loc@icx.net

.....................................................

************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.