April 11, 2007
Nuclear Plant Fire, OH MY
Nothing wakes you quite like the words "Nuclear" & "Fire" in the same sentence!
RICHLAND, WASH. — A small fire prompted authorities to declare an alert this afternoon at the Columbia Generating Station, the only commercial nuclear power plant in Washington.
No radioactivity was released, and the plant on the Hanford nuclear reservation in southeast Washington remains operating.
Energy Northwest, which operates the plant, says the alert was declared at 1:44 Saturday afternoon when the plant's control room received an alert from a sensor of an electrical fire in a building adjacent to the reactor building.
The fire was in a backup transformer that supplies electricity to parts of the plant when needed.
Officials say the plant's fire brigade and the Hanford Fire Department responded, although the fire was quickly put out by an quipment operator using a fire extinguisher.
The alert was lifted at 5:21 p.m.
No injuries were reported, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is under way. Energy Northwest spokesman Gary Miller says there's "no chance" sabotage was the cause.
Original post by admin and software by Elliott Back
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