Lab tests on water and vegetation found no measurable increase in radiation at Exelon Nuclear's Byron Generating Station after steam was released during a low-level emergency last week.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency took samples after a power outage triggered an automatic shutdown of one the plant's two nuclear reactors on Jan. 30. The shutdown prompted the release of steam to depressurize the cooling system.
Steam from reactor systems contains tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Tritium naturally occurs, but is in greater concentration in commercial nuclear reactors.
"Our laboratory results confirm that the steam release at the Byron nuclear power plant on Monday presented no health hazard for people who live and work in the area," said Jonathan Monken, IEMA director.
Monken said three samples taken after the steam release were statistically the same as samples taken Jan. 11, and that a fourth sample showed a lower concentration of tritium.
In 2010, Exelon paid $1.2 million to settle a suit filed by the Illinois attorney general over leaks of radioactive tritium into the ground around reactors in Byron, Braceville and Morris.
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