Decade
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Shundahai Network
Dedicated to Breaking
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Shundahai is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony with all Creation"
May 17, 2006
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100 Workers Contaminated at Prairie Island 1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bonnie Urfer, Nukewatch, (715) 472-4185 Hidden deep in the web pages of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can be found the Current Morning Report for May 5, 2006. Within the brief one page missive, the NRC says, "Approximately 100 workers present in the Containment Building were externally contaminated and had small intakes of radioactive material composed principally of radioiodines." The steam generators were not properly vented during work proceedures that included, "removal of the generator man-ways in preparation for nozzle dam installation." As a result of the error, gaseous contaminants within the steam generators were exhausted directly into the Containment Building atmosphere. According to the brief report, "Workers were decontaminated to remove external contamination prior to being released from the plant." The radiation is composed principally of radioiodines. Radioiodines are difficult to control. The Beta and Gamma radiation can penetrate rubber and thin neoprene gloves, plastics and tygon. External doses from gamma and beta radiation is about 100 times less than the dose received by the thyroid from inhaled radioiodine. The NRC report does not mention what kind of protection workers were using. At the time of this release, calls to the NRC have gone unreturned. Xcel Energy Inc., shut down its 535-megawatt Prairie Island 1 nuclear reactor on April 28 for refueling and maintenance work. A shocking silence surrounds this event thus far, perhaps not surprising however, given intense federal and utility push for new nuclear reactors. -- NUKEWATCH P.O. Box 649 Luck, WI 54853 715-472-4185 www.nukewatch.com
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