The forty year old plant is experiencing electrical issues.
COVERT - The Palisades nuclear power plant went into an emergency shutdown Sunday after a circuit breaker fault in the direct current system, plant spokesman Mark Savage reported.
Savage said redundant circuits are in place to assure safe system operation. There were no injuries associated with the breaker fault, which occurred at 3:10 p.m.
The direct current system powers indicators and controls in the control room and other plant locations, Savage said.
This steam they are venting contains tritium and is exposing the environment to this contaminant.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Prema Chandrithal said that the current shutdown happened because an object slipped during work on a circuit breaker and caused an arc that took out power for one of two DC electrical systems that power safety valves and other devices.
According to a notice filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the plant is stable and “controlling temperature using Atmospheric Dump Valves.”
“The steam that would normally go to the generators, that steam is now going into the environment … through the steam stack,” said Chandrithal. “This would have very low levels of tritium.”
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen.