Illinois Nuclear Power Plant Loses Power- Vents "Low-Level" Radioactive Steam

The Byron IL nuclear power plant located about 95 miles northwest of Chicago is shutdown after losing power Monday morning. 




The ASSOCIATED PRESS story (partially shown in an image here) also said the plant was releasing steam from "the non-nuclear side" of the plant- but that steam contains "low levels of radioactive tritium, but the levels are safe for workers and the public, federal and plant officials said."

(Remember- Japanese government and plant officials said initially their nuke plant that was damaged by the March 2010 earthquake/tsunami was also "safe.") 




Also of concern is the last paragraph in the AP story- "In an unrelated issue last April, the commission said it was conducting special inspections of backup water pumps at the Byron and Braidwood generating stations after the agency's inspectors raised concerns about whether the pumps would be able to cool the reactors if the normal system wasn't working. The plants' operator, Exelon Corp. (EXC), initially said the pumps would work but later concluded they wouldn't."