By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press
May 9, 2007
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed in a new report to Congress that a nuclear chain-reaction accident nearly occurred 14 months ago at a nuclear fuels processing plant in Tennessee.
About 35 liters, or just over 9 gallons, of highly enriched uranium solution spilled March 6, 2006, at the Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. facility in Erwin, about 15 miles south of Johnson City, the NRC said in a report published Friday in the Federal Register.
The incident might never have been disclosed publicly if not for laws requiring the NRC to annually report "abnormal occurrences" of its license-holders to Congress.
By definition, abnormal occurrences are considered "significant from the standpoint of public health and safety," NRC Chairman Dale Klein wrote in the 35-page report, which covered fiscal 2006 and
was addressed to Vice President Dick Cheney.The incident at Nuclear Fuel Services was one of three mentioned in the report.
"The commission decided a few years ago in the wake of 9/11 that operational details at this facility would be treated as sensitive, official use-only information," McIntyre said. "So we don't publicly discuss the operational details of NFS."
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http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5527305,00.html