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54 Nuclear Plant Workers Exposed to Radioactive Gas

Paraphrased by Steve Waldrop
May 14, 2002

Athens, Alabama- An accident at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant exposed 54 workers to gas with low levels of radioactive contamination. There was no threat of danger to the public or other plant employees said officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Spokesman for Browns Ferry, Craig Beasley, said that "None of the gas left the building or escaped into the environment. The workers who were exposed to the gas apparently received less than 50 millirems of exposure. That is far below the annual allowable limit of 5,000 millirems for nuclear workers." By comparison, a dental X-ray exposes patients to about 9 millirems.

The accident appeared to be minor and occurred as workers removed parts from the Unit 2 reactor which had been shut down for refueling. The top of the reactor had been removed to provide access to internal parts. As they removed the moisture separator, low-level radioactive gas was released.

Water inside the reactors absorbs radioactive gas produced during the nuclear reaction that produces the steam used to power the electricity generators at the plant, officials said.

The workers exposed to the radioactive gas, have returned to work.

Several weeks earlier four Browns Ferry workers were burned by a high-voltage electrical arc during a refueling outage of the Unit 3 reactor.

The burned workers were treated at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, and are still recovering from their injuries at home.