Vermont Yankee, the nuclear power plant that was shut down on Sunday after a radioactive water leak, will be restarted as early as tomorrow as crews effect repairs.
The leak, discovered Saturday during routine surveillance, was found to be coming from a 2-inch access plug in a a water feed pipe, said Larry Smith, a plant spokesman. The leaky access plug had been installed during original construction of the plant and used for radiography of pipe welds.
“The decision to shut the plant down was conservative and based on industry experience with feed water systems as well as worker safety,” Smith said. “The plant had been operating for 163 days prior to the manual shutdown on Sunday evening.”
Repairs were underway, and the plant could reopen tomorrow or Wednesday.
The cause of the leak remains under investigation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the public was not in danger.
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