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Nuclear Power Plant Leaked Oil into Lake Michigan for Two Months

© Flickr / Nuclear Power Regulatory CommissionDonald C. Cook Nuclear Plant near Bridgman, Michigan
Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant near Bridgman, Michigan - Sputnik International
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A nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan in the western Michigan town of Bridgman was leaking oil for about two months from October to December of last year, but plant officials assert the oil has since dissipated and not caused any harm to the lake.

Officials at the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant reported the leak on December 20, saying about 2,000 gallons of oil ended up in the lake, but stressed there was no radioactive material that seeped out of the plant. The leak, a plant spokesman said, came from an oil cooling system in one of the plant’s turbine where hot oil is cooled from Lake Michigan water. That turbine system is a different system separate from the plant’s radioactive operations.

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Plant officials say it took them a while to notice the leak because it was tiny compared to the amount of water discharged from the plant and that they had to take other factors into account, such as fluctuations in lake water temperatures that would change the readings of oil levels in the water used to cool the oil. Workers haven’t found the exact location of the leak but have taken that turbine out of commission in the meantime. The plant is operating at normal levels using its three other cooling turbines.

Federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are monitoring and say they expect a follow up within a month. 

The non-profit Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes says the whole thing is very troubling, wondering why it took so long for plant officials to find the leak. 

“Nearly two months later is the first determination they make that they have an oil leak? It speaks to the quality assurance of all of their other systems,” the coalition said in a statement.

Lake Michigan is the largest in the world by surface area, encompassing 22,400 square miles (Russia’s Lake Baikal is larger by water volume).

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