Officials say a pinhole leak has been found on a reactor head spray line nozzle at the nation's oldest operating nuclear plant.

Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant (Exelon)
Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant (Exelon)
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The problem discovered Tuesday night at the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township does not pose a safety hazard for workers or the public. But it's not yet clear what caused the leak, which is being repaired by plant workers.

The leak occurred on a flange to a piping weld on the reactor's head spray system. Water was found to be weeping from the pinhole leak at approximately 2 to 3 drops per minute.

The plant has been offline due to a refueling outage that started Oct. 22. It's not known when it will return to service.

Officials with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission say the reactor is safe.

 

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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