Nuke worker falls into reactor pool

SAN ONOFRE, Calif., Feb 3, 2012 -- UPI

A worker at a Southern California nuclear power plant fell into a reactor pool but did not suffer significant radiation exposure, plant officials said.

Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said Thursday the man employed by a private contractor to work at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, "momentarily lost his balance" while trying to retrieve a flashlight and fell into the plant's Unit 2 reactor pool Jan. 27.

It is unclear why it took almost week to report the incident.

The worker was a veteran at the plant who had been assigned to replace the reactor's vessel head and "was wearing all of the appropriate safety equipment, including a life preserver vest. We immediately began a thorough medical screening to determine if there had been any injury," Alexander said.

The uranium fuel had been removed from the 20-foot deep pool containing water to circulate through the reactor's core, the North County Times of San Diego reported.

Alexander said the worker received about 5 millirem of radiation from the fall. U.S. government guidelines for nuclear workers allow 5,000 millirem per calendar year, the Times said.

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