Nuclear  

INDIAN POINT, NY

Feb 15, 2000 radiation steam leak

Feb 16 , 2000 NRC Press Release | NRC Event Report

Nuclear plant accident leads to angry reaction - AP reported that residents around Indian Point were not alerted when radiated steam escaped into the air. Sirens were kept silent by officials in four New York counties. Officials said the release was "momentary and minuscule". Nearby residents said they should have been alerted so they could have made the decision to evacuate the area.


NRC NEWS

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

No. I-00-14 February 16, 2000
(12:45 a.m.)
CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330/e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan, 610/337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov

NRC Monitoring "Alert" at Indian Point 2

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is monitoring closely activities at the Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y., following the declaration of an "Alert" at the plant at 7:29 p.m. (2/15/00). The plant is operated by Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

Operators manually shut down the reactor and declared an "Alert" following indications of a steam generator tube leak.

An "Alert" is the second lowest emergency action level in the NRC required emergency response plan for nuclear power plants. Operators have stabilized the plant and are in control of all systems. Following procedures, operators successfully isolated the affected steam generator. Radiological monitoring by the company to this point indicates there have been no measurable releases of radioactivity from the plant.

In response to the "Alert," the NRC has staffed its incident response center in the Region I office in King of Prussia, Pa., and is following developments from its operations center in Rockville, Md.. The NRC Resident Inspectors have responded to the plant, where they are monitoring Consolidated Edison's response to this event.

Indian Point 3, which is operated by the New York Power Authority, is not affected.

- # -

Source: NRC Press Release


U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Operations Center
Event Report For 02/15/2000

Power Reactor Event Number: 36695
FACILITY: Indian Point

UNIT: [2] [] []

RXTYPE: [2] W-4-LP, [3] 2-4-LP

----------------------------------

NRC NOTIFIED BY: TOWNDSON

HQ OPS OFFICER:
JOHN MacKINNON

REGION: 1

STATE: NY

NOTIFICATION DATE: 02/15/2000

NOTIFICATION TIME: 20:07 [EST]

EVENT DATE: 02/15/2000

EVENT TIME: 19:29 [EST]

LAST UPDATE DATE: 02/15/2000

EMERGENCY CLASS: ALE

10 CFR SECTION:
AAEC 50.72 (A) (1) (I)
EMERGENCY DECLARED

PERSON

FRANK COSTELLO
RICHARD WESSMAN
JOSEPH GIITTER

ORGANIZATION

RI
NRR
IRO

UNIT

2

SCRAM CODE

M/R

RX CRIT

Y

INIT PWR

99

INIT RX MODE

Power Operation

CURR PWR

0

CURR RX MODE

Hot Shutdown


EVENT TEXT

REACTOR MANUALLY TRIPPED DUE TO INDICATION OF A STEAM GENERATOR TUBE RUPTURE ON STEAM GENERATOR # 24.

The licensee was at 99% power when they received a nitrogen-16 alarm on the main steam and other indication of a Steam Generator Tube Rupture on Steam Generator # 24. Initial Steam Generator Tube Rupture was initially estimated at greater than 75 gallons per minute. The reactor was manually tripped and all rods fully inserted into the core. The faulted Steam Generator was isolated. Currently reactor coolant system pressure is 2243 psig, temperature is 547 þF and pressurizer level is being maintained at 35%. The licensee declared an Alert classification per EAL 3.1.2 (large amount of water out of the reactor coolant system). The NRC entered Standby at 2049 EST. The NRC response was deescalated to Monitoring at 2335 EST. The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the licensee.