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Nuclear authority: V.C. Summer leak no threat to environment, workers or homes nearby

A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the leak is coming from a 6-inch pipe inside the site's containment building.

Jenkinsville, SC (WLTX) -- We're learning new details involving a leak at V.C. Summer.

As we've been reporting, the lone reactor at the plant shut down over a week ago and remains out of operation.

RELATED: V.C. Summer plant remains shut down one week after leak

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), who has authority over the leak at V.C. Summer, is sharing more details about the case.

The new information we're learning today came from Roger Hannah, a spokesman with the Region 2 Office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Hannah says the NRC has full-time inspectors at all nuclear plants across the U.S. 

Credit: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

As soon as the leak happened at V.C. Summer in the late hours of November 6, he says NRC inspectors were made aware and they are still monitoring everything that's going on.

Hannah says the leak is coming from a weld area on a 6-inch pipe inside the containment building at V.C. Summer. The pipe is connected to the reactor coolant system, Dominion Energy officials said Saturday.  

Credit: Google Earth

"All of the water that was coming from that pipe was collected inside containment," he said. "Even though the water is slightly radioactive, there was not a pathway for that water to get outside the plant or even to an area where workers might have been exposed."

Hannah says workers are repairing the pipe and trying to figure out what caused the leak.

Dominion Energy told us it was not necessary to shut down the plant because the leak was so small, but they did anyway to be proactive.

"It's important to note that this was not a terribly safety significant event because the amount of water was very small," said Hannah. "The water was contained inside containment and there was no pathway for this water to get into the environment or to in any way affect the people living near the facility."

Hannah says the company treats the water before it's released.

While crews work to fix the leak, they're also using this opportunity to do other maintenance jobs at the facility that they couldn't otherwise do if the plant was in operation.

When we asked a Dominion Energy spokesman when the plant would reopen, we were told that is "market sensitive information".

Hannah says that's because when a plant is in or out of operation, it affects the price of electricity - especially on extremely hot or cold days.

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