Safety Tops Concerns As Public Meets with Regulators, Duke Energy at Oconee Nuclear

By: WSPA Staff | News Channel 7 , WSPA
Published: April 09, 2012
Updated: April 09, 2012 - 8:27 PM

SENECA, S.C. --

Update: April 9, 2011

Safety was at the top of the list of concerns at a meeting Monday night at the Oconee Nuclear station.

About two dozen people living near the plant came to ask questions to officials at Duke Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Duke Energy says it has corrected two problems reported at the plant in the last year.

The most recent issue happened Friday when one of the plant's three nuclear reactors had to be shut down to repair a non-radioactive leak. Duke Energy spokesperson Sandra Magee says a flex hose on a pump of the reactor has now been fixed. The reactor?was restored to full?operations again on Sunday.

Duke Energy says there was no public threat. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating per protocol, but a spokesperson for that agency also says there is no public threat related to the incident.????

Last summer the NRC put the plant under increased scrutiny after faulty breakers were found at the standby shutdown facility.

Paulette Chassin attended Monday?s meeting. She lives close to Oconee Nuclear. Chassin says, ?I am very concerned about safety, just living four miles away. I believe in all kinds of power, nuclear being one of them, but there have been some yellow flags here, and I've been listening really for about a year and a half. There seems to be one issue after another with Oconee, and I'm very concerned about the back-up for emergencies."

The NRC tells 7 On Your Side Oconee Nuclear is operating safely, and it will do an extra inspection at the plant in the coming months because of the previous problem with the standby shutdown facility.

Monday?s meeting was part of an annual assessment by the NRC at Oconee Nuclear.????

For more information on evacuation routes and procedures during an emergency at Oconee Nuclear, click here.

Original Story: April 6, 2011

Officials with Duke Energy say a leak prompted them to shut down one of three reactors at the Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca.

Unit 2 was powered down because of the leak and as crews began to increase the power, they say the leak increased.

It has been shut down for repairs and the Nuclear Regulatory Committee was notified.

Duke officials say the leak was contained to the reactor and there was no public threat.

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