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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III
801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 |
| CONTACT: |
Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov |
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Angela Greenman (630) 829-9662/e-mail: opa3@nrc.gov |
NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: RIII-96-21 May 29, 1996
CONTACT: Jan Strasma 708/829-9663
Angela Dauginas 708/829-9662
E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov
NRC SENDS AUGMENTED INSPECTION TEAM TO REVIEW GASEOUS IGNITION
INCIDENT IN SPENT FUEL CASK AT POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is sending an
Augmented Inspection Team to the Point Beach Nuclear Power
Station to review the unexpected burning of a combustible gas
during the welding of a lid on a spent fuel storage cask early
Tuesday.
The Point Beach plant, located near Two Rivers, Wisconsin,
is operated by Wisconsin Electric Power Company.
The storage cask had been loaded with 24 spent fuel
assemblies and moved from the spent fuel storage pool at the
plant to an adjacent work area.
As technicians began welding a 4,400-pound lid on the
container, combustible gas inside the container ignited.
Pressure from the burning gas moved the lid slightly, leaving it
about one-inch out of place. The cask was filled with water at
the time of the incident with a small air space at the top.
The utility stopped the welding procedure and is now
investigating the cause of the gaseous ignition. Air monitors
showed there was no release of radioactivity from the container,
and there is no evidence of damage to the spent fuel. No one was
injured in the incident.
Both reactors at the Point Beach plant were operating at the
time and were not affected by the incident.
Members of the NRC inspection team will join the NRC Senior
Resident Inspector who went to the plant early today Tuesday to
monitor the utility's activities. The team members are from the
NRC's Region III office in Lisle, Illinois, and the NRC's
Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.
The team will review the incident and monitor the utility's
investigation.
At the completion of its onsite review, the inspection team
will present its findings to utility representatives in a meeting
which is open to public observation. The schedule and location
of the meeting will be announced later.
A written report of the inspection findings will be issued
several weeks after the conclusion of the inspection.
This was the third spent fuel storage cask loaded at the
Point Beach facility. The other two were loaded without incident
and placed on an outdoor storage pad.
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