NRC Spokesman Says No Danger to Public From San Onofre Shutdown

We're seeing plenty of activity around the news coming out of San Onfre Nuclear Generating Station, and I think the most important piece of information I've seen thus far has come from Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the NRC.

The following is excerpted from a story that appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Small traces of radioactive gas from a leak at the San Onofre nuclear plant may have reached the atmosphere, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday.

A reactor at the nuclear plant 45 miles north of San Diego was shut down on Tuesday when evidence emerged of a leak in a radioactive steam pipe in the plant's recently replaced generator.

Air extractors apparently carried small traces of radioactive gas from the generator area to an unsealed auxiliary building outside the reactor dome, setting off radiation alarms, said NRC spokesman Victor Dricks. The leak and possible escape of gas poses no danger, he said.

"If there was any radiation that escaped from the auxiliary building it would not pose any danger to the workers on site or to the public's health and safety," Dricks said. "It would have been a small fraction of the natural background radiation."

More later if events warrant.