I often blog about nuclear power reactors. My focus has usually been on the radioactive material in the reactors and problems which may result in the release of radioactive materials into the environment. However, there is much more to a nuclear power plant than the reactors and their radioactive fuels. There are complex mechanical systems, complex electronic systems and complex human systems. There are possibilities for pollution of the ecosystem beyond nuclear materials in the operation of a nuclear power plant.
The Donald C. Cook Generating Station is located in southwest Michigan on the shore of Lake Michigan near the city of Bridgman, Michigan. The Station is operated by Indiana Michigan Power Company and it is owned by American Electric Power. Construction of the two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors at the Station began in 1969 and both reactors were connected to the grid and supplying power by 1978. In 2005, the NRC granted twenty year license extensions. Reactor 1 is now licensed until 2034 and Reactor 2 is now licensed until 2037. Both reactor produce about one gigawatt of electricity.
There have been accidents at the Station that took the lives of three people. The Station has had to be shut down several times due to serious mechanical problems in key systems. In 1996, both reactors were shut down for three years because the operators were not correcting serious problems in a timely and competent fashion. In 2003, Reactor 1 was shut down because a transformer fire triggered an automatic shutdown. One of the consequences of the fire was the release of cooling oil into Lake Michigan.
In October of 2014, the Station began leaking cooling oil into Lake Michigan. Officials at the Station notified state officials about the leak on December 13. The source of the leak was not found until December 20, 2014. During the two months of the leak, about two thousand gallons of oil from a cooling system leaked into the lake.
The communication manager for the Station said that there would be no impact on the lake from the spill. He commented that oil left a sheen on water and that they had found no sheen on the water in their reservoir, in the lake or on beaches. He concluded that the oil had dispersed.
The Director of a non-profit called the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, challenged the claim that dispersion of the oil removed any threat to the lake and surrounding ecosystem. He wondered if the officials at the Station really had any solid idea of how much oil had leaked into the lake during the two months that they were unaware of the leak.
Apparently small oil leaks, usually from power transformers, are common occurrences at nuclear power plants. It may seem that oil leaks of even a few thousand gallons should be considered trivial next to things like the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. However, to me, it simply reinforces the idea that nuclear plant operators may be slow to identify and fix problems like the oil leak but they are quick to claim that there is no threat to health or the ecosystem.
Donald C. Cook Generating Station:
