|
- |
By RUSTY DENNEN
What Dominion power described as a "wording" issue in an emergency plan delayed its reporting of an alert at North Anna Power Station to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
A small electrical fire was discovered about 5 a.m. Wednesday in a circuit breaker serving Unit 1. No one was injured and there was no threat to the plant's safe operation, company officials said. North Anna, which has two reactors, is located on Lake Anna near Mineral in Louisa County.
A worker smelled something burning in an electrical cable vault, and observed a small flame on a circuit breaker serving a fan associated with a reactor control-rod drive mechanism. Alternate fans were running to provide cooling.
The rods control fission of uranium fuel within the reactor.
The fire was extinguished and plant supervisors were informed, according to an event report filed with the NRC. The cause of the circuit-breaker failure has not been identified, and the plant continues to run at full power.
An "alert" condition was not reported to the NRC until 2:47 p.m. Thursday--more than 30 hours after the incident.
Richard Zuercher, spokesman for Dominion's nuclear operations, said it was determined later that the event required an alert under the wording of the plant's emergency plan.
An alert is the second level of a four-tier notification system used by the NRC to determine the seriousness of problems at nuclear power plants.
The least serious is a "notification of unusual event"--posing no threat to plant employees or the public, but emergency officials are notified.
An "alert" is declared when an event could compromise plant safety, but backup systems still work.
Next is a "site area emergency," when release of radioactivity into the air or water is possible. The most serious is a "general emergency," when an accident could cause radiation to be released beyond the plant boundaries.
"This issue would not have risen to the level of a notification of unusual event" under the NRC guidelines, Zuercher said, "and did not meet the reality of an emergency condition."
Zuercher said the company is evaluating the language in the plant's emergency plan and will recommend appropriate changes.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
