18 Sept (NucNet): Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspectors are monitoring the situation at the country’s Monticello nuclear plant following the death yesterday of a contractor and the subsequent loss of power to non-safety equipment.
The NRC activated its Incident Response Center to monitor the ‘unusual event’ declared at the plant in the state of Minnesota. An unusual event is the lowest of four levels in the NRC’s emergency classification system.
The plant was already shut down because of a forced maintenance outage before the unusual event was declared. There have been no unplanned radioactive releases, the NRC said.
Yesterday’s unusual event was declared at 10:30 local time. The contractor was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital. Xcel Energy, which owns the plant, said the contractor was from an equipment rental company. He died after equipment he was working on came into contact with a high-voltage power line just outside the plant gates.
The accident caused a loss of power in some plant equipment, including equipment needed to provide cooling water support during reactor shutdown, according to the NRC.
Monticello, a single-unit, boiling water reactor, began commercial operation in June 1971. In November 2006, the NRC renewed the plant’s operating licence for an additional 20 years.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
NRC Renews Monticello Licence For 20 Years (World Nuclear Review No. 45, 10 November 2006)
Xcel Files Application For Monticello Capacity Increase (News in Brief No. 17, 18 February 2008)
