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Palisades Will Replace Troublesome Tank’s Floor

Posted at 8:59 PM, May 20, 2013
and last updated 2013-05-20 21:04:00-04

COVERT, Mich. — The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant plans to replace the entire floor of a leaky 300,000-gallon water tank that has caused a number of shutdowns during the past few years.

On Monday, plant spokeswoman Lindsay Rose told FOX 17 NEWS that plans call for completely replacing the tank’s floor and reconstituting the tank’s subflooring.

She also released the following statement from the plant:

“Extensive inspections have been completed of the safety injection/refueling water storage tank at Palisades and a comprehensive repair plan has been developed.

Using multiple inspection methods, we identified a small crack along a nozzle weld at the bottom of the tank. We believe this small crack caused the leakage that required the plant to be removed from service on May 5. The leak had no impact on the health and safety of the public or employees.

With the safe and reliable operation of Palisades as our highest priority, we have chosen to move forward with a complete replacement of the tank bottom and total reconstitution of the subflooring. By replacing the tank bottom, we can return the subflooring to its original condition.

The extensive replacement effort will likely take until early summer to complete. We are confident this very conservative approach will bring this issue to final resolution.”