PERRY, Ohio (AP) — The operator of a northeast Ohio nuclear power plant says a refrigerant leaked from equipment in a building on the site, prompting air monitoring for the chemical.
A FirstEnergy Corp. spokeswoman tells The Plain Dealer (https://bit.ly/Po76wX ) an undetermined amount of the chemical escaped Wednesday as workers were starting routine maintenance at a facility near the reactor building at the Perry nuclear plant along Lake Erie. The leak occurred at a building that contains charcoal beds to absorb radioactive gases.
No one was hurt, but the building was deemed off-limits. Air monitors were called to check for trichloroethylene, a chemical from the refrigerant that can be a neurotoxin in high concentrations.
Such problems are required to be reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Perry is about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland.
