Re: Bacteria in Nuclear Reactors

[David Lee Kania <davidlee@wtaccess.com>]

If I remember correctly we used hydrogen peroxide.

davidlee



At 01:12 PM 5/12/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Another historical occurrence of this "phenomena": Bacteria appeared in the
>primary coolant water inside the reactor vessel at Three Mile Island Unit 2
>shortly after the head was removed but before the fuel was removed post-
>accident.  Its appearance was hardly subtle, either.  The bacteria developed
>into a quite noticeable deposit on the surface of the coolant water.  This
>unusual case of "pond scum" caused some head-scratching in the Operations
>Department, as there was concern that introducing disinfectants into the
>primary cooling water might compromise the Makeup and Purification System or
>even complicate ongoing efforts to prevent possible mini-criticalities from
>initiating in fuel rubble accumulations throughout the reactor vessel and
>primary cooling system.
>
>Eventually the problem was resolved.  Does anyone here know how (this is
not a
>test!)?
>
>Steve Fry, MS, TIP
>Stevenfrey@aol.com
>Phone: (800) 888-7008 (office), (714) 646-4631 (home)
>