Officials: Radiation could have escaped Calif. nuclear reactor

February 1, 2012 by legitgov

Officials: Radiation could have escaped Calif. nuclear reactor 01 Feb 2012 A 'tiny amount' of radiation could have escaped into the atmosphere from a Southern California nuclear power plant after a water leak prompted operators to shut down the reactor as a precaution, officials said Wednesday. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks said radioactive gas "could have" escaped the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on the northern San Diego coast. The leak occurred in equipment that was installed in the plant in the fall of 2010. The leak occurred in one of thousands of tubes that carry radioactive water from the Unit 3 reactor. However, the company has found damage to other tubes, Dricks said.