SAN ONOFRE: Worker at nuclear plant fell into reactor pool last week!!!!

[link to www.nctimes.com]

A worker at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station fell inside the plant's Unit 2 reactor pool last week, but officials determined he did not suffer significant radiation exposure.

Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said Thursday that the worker, who is employed by a private contractor assigned to replace the reactor’s vessel head, "momentarily lost his balance" and fell into the pool Jan. 27 while leaning over to retrieve a flashlight.

“He was wearing all of the appropriate safety equipment, including a life preserver vest. We immediately began a thorough medical screening to determine if there had been any injury,” Alexander said.

The pool is more than 20 feet deep and holds water that continually circulates through the reactor core.

Workers already had removed the highly radioactive uranium fuel that normally sits at the bottom of the pool, officials said.

Without the fuel present, the most likely source of deadly radiation would be stray fuel particles that could have been floating in the water, said Nuclear
Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks.

Alexander said Edison decontaminated the worker and conducted tests to determine whether he had swallowed any dangerous particles.

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