Officials at Constellation Energy are investigating a leakage in a containment structure that caused the shutdown of the Nine Mile Point Unit 2 reactor on Lake Ontario over the weekend.
The Oswego Palladium-Times reports that the reactor remained shut down Sunday after a "higher-than-normal leakage" was discovered inside the facility's drywell (http://bit.ly/qVJmf3 ). The incident was classified as an "unusual event," the lowest level of nuclear power plant emergencies.
Constellation Energy Nuclear Group spokeswoman Jill Lyon said the drywell is the containment structure surrounding the reactor vessel and associated piping. She said the reactor will remain shut down until the necessary repairs and post maintenance testing are finished.
Neil Sheehan of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it appears the source of the leakage is a valve on a recirculation pump.
