SAN ONOFRE: No record of reactor-pool falls like one at local nuclear plant via North County Times

The worker who fell into a reactor pool at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on Jan. 27 was not the first to make such waves at a U.S. nuclear plant, but it’s hard to determine how common such falls are because none has generated a public report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

NRC spokesman Scott Burnell, who searched the agency’s “event notification” database at the request of the North County Times, said no records of previous falls were listed, even though the regulator knows they happen from time to time.

“Many longtime NRC employees can provide anecdotal evidence of individuals falling into the spent fuel pool or refueling cavity,” he said in an email.

But the falls don’t trigger a report to the NRC because the water in the reactor pools just isn’t that radioactive, he said.

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