Officials: Spill at Wisconsin nuclear plant not health risk
WKBT LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says radioactive water that spilled into the Mississippi River last year during the $85 million decommissioning of a former nuclear power plant in Wisconsin wasn't a public health risk.
The La Crosse Tribune reports that LaCrosseSolutions spilled 400 gallons (1514 liters) of radioactive water while decommissioning the former Dairyland Power nuclear plant.
The commission's annual inspection of decommissioning operations last month found that the spill was one of three low-level violations at the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor. The commission didn't issue any citations.
The inspection report says a hose attached to a sump pump siphoned contaminated water out of a tank, with some spilling into a storm sewer that drains into the nearby river.
A spokesman for EnergySolutions, LaCrosseSolutions's parent company, declined to comment.