Sunday July 6th, 2025 11:55PM

Four injured in electrical accident at nuclear plant

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ATHENS, Ala. - Four electricians at Browns Ferry nuclear power plant were burned Tuesday evening by a high-powered electrical shock, officials said. They were listed in satisfactory condition Wednesday at a hospital burn unit in Birmingham. <br> <br> The accident occurred in the turbine room of the Unit 3 reactor at the plant, which has set records for days in continuous operation. The unit&#39;s current cycle had lasted over 600 days, officials said. <br> <br> Safety officials stressed that the accident took place away from the reactor building, and that there was no threat of radioactive material being released. <br> <br> &#34;My main concern right now is that everyone understands there&#39;s no nuclear threat,&#34; said Lee Helms, Alabama&#39;s Emergency Management Agency director. &#34;It was in an electrical area, in the non-nuclear area.&#34; <br> <br> The reactor was shut down Tuesday morning to begin what is called a &#34;maintenance and refueling outage,&#34; said John Moulton, spokesman for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which runs the plant. <br> <br> The accident occurred when a 4,160-volt breaker in the turbine room suffered a fault at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. The breaker emitted a high-powered electrical arc, burning the workers and starting a small fire. <br> <br> Spencer Black, director of the Limestone County Emergency Management Agency, said the fire was in a confined area, so the emergency response plan for the plant was not activated. <br> <br> An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the accident, Moulton said. Damage to the area was mostly limited to the faulty breaker. <br> <br> The workers were treated at the site by TVA emergency medical technicians. Three were taken to a Huntsville hospital and were listed initially as critical. But all were eventually moved to the burn unit at University Hospital in Birmingham, where they were listed in satisfactory condition Wednesday. <br> <br> The injured workers are TVA employees Fred Pendergrass and David Letson of Florence and Ed Minyard of Athens, and Dan Young of Florence, a contract employee with the engineering firm Stone & Webster. Moulton said contract workers are often used in the plant during refueling outages on the reactors. <br> <br> After the accident, traffic backed up for blocks on roads leading to the nuclear plant as employees arriving for the 7 p.m. shift change were stopped outside its gates. They were later allowed to enter. <br> <br> The nuclear plant near Athens was the scene of a major electrical fire in 1975. Workers accidentally ignited insulation on cables in a reactor control room, after using a candle to search for air leaks. The fire caused $10 million in damage and shut the plant down for 18 months while repairs were made. <br> <br> <br>
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