RED WING, Minn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- No injuries were reported when 522 gallons of chlorine bleach leaked from a broken pipe in a nuclear plant near Red Wing, Minn., Thursday, officials said.
Workers at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant discovered the leak at 3:53 a.m. and reported it to state officials as required by law. The leak occurred in a "screen house," a facility where water pumped in from the Mississippi River is treated to be used to cool nuclear reactors. The bleach is used to kill bacteria in the water.
Emergency Management Director Kris Eide told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "This is a non-radioactive event."
Dennis Koehl of Xcel Energy is investigating why the PVC pipe leaked. He said bleach did not contaminate the Mississippi River or anywhere else beyond the contained area.
Koehl expects the cleanup to be completed by 6 p.m. Eide says the public was in no danger, and city officials do not need to take any cautionary action.
