Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) made a declaration of an Alert at its Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo around noon on Friday.
An Alert is declared for an actual or potential degradation of plant safety systems. The alert was due to a recording of slightly decreased oxygen levels in Unit 2 containment. There is no risk to employee or public health and safety. Both Units 1 and 2 are in a safe condition and remain operating at full power.
There have been no reports of injury.
The decreased oxygen levels could be due to a variety of issues. PG&E’s professional staff is working on understanding the situation and restoring it.
The Alert classification for this event has been removed from the emergency action levels at other stations and is in the process of being removed from emergency action procedures at DCPP pending NRC approval since the condition does not pose a risk to the health and safety of the general public.
An Alert is the second lowest of four federal classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for emergencies at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. An Alert is characterized by events that are in progress or have occurred which involve an actual or potential impact on the level of safety of the plant.
Diablo Canyon personnel are well-trained to respond to this type of situation and drill regularly with local, state and federal partners to ensure a coordinated response. In accordance with pre-existing emergency plans, appropriate federal, state and local emergency organizations, including the NRC, have been notified.
PG&E will communicate the latest information on the situation with the news media via briefings at the Joint Information Center (JIC) in San Luis Obispo (see separate release for location and directions).
The public can obtain information by calling the company’s toll-free service line at 1-800-PGE-5000, or by accessing the following online resources: PG&E’s Diablo Canyon page, at http://www.diablocanyonpge.com; its Twitter feed, at http://www.twitter.com/pge4me; and the company’s Facebook page, at http://www.facebook.com/pacificgasandelectric.
