Peach Bottom to unload spent fuel

Nov 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Sean Adkins York Daily Record, Pa.

The next time you place forks or knives in your dishwasher's utensil holder, think Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.

Soon, workers at the nuclear-powered plant will unload more than 60 spent fuel assemblies from a 18-foot cask into the grid-like racks of the power station's spent fuel storage pool, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The assemblies are bundled fuel rods that have been removed from the reactor and replaced with fresh alternates.

Last month, workers found a small amount of the inert gas had leaked from the system on the cask, which is designed to prevent helium inside the 115-ton container from escaping.

Helium helps reduce the heat given off by the fuel assemblies and prevent corrosion.

No radiological material leaked from the cask, and the public is not in danger from the escaped helium.

The plant will store the fuel assemblies in fitted slots -- similar to the utensil baskets found in some dishwashers -- at the bottom of the roughly 40-foot pool, Sheehan said.

One the cask is empty, plant officials will repair a helium leak on the seal system of the cask, Sheehan said.

Typically, plant workers shift the assemblies from the pool into the casks for dry storage, Sheehan said.

In 2000, Peach Bottom began to store its spent fuel assemblies in dry casks after it started running low on space inside its spent fuel pool.

The commission's inspector stationed at Peach Bottom will observe both the unloading of the fuel and the repair, Sheehan said.

sadkins@ydr.com; 771-2047