Middletown, Pa. - A Three Mile Island official says radioactive particles in old pipes being cut by workers set off an air monitor during work Saturday at the nuclear power plant.

TMI spokeswoman Beth Archer said the particles in the pipes from the reactor cooling system became airborne when the ventilation system kicked in.

"As we were cutting them and the ventilation system started, that caused - because they were inside and we were cutting - it caused the particles to become airborne," Archer said.

The workers are removing old steam generators to make way for the new generators that arrived in September. The unit has been shut down since Oct. 26.

"Approximately a dozen workers received low levels of contamination," Archer said. "There was no threat to any health problems to any employees and everyone was fine."

TMI reported the incident occurred at around 4 p.m. Saturday, but it was not until approximately 8 p.m. that abc27 News received phone calls from worried employees. Dauphin County dispatchers contacted by abc27 were not aware of any problem. Middletown Mayor Robert Reid acknowledged that something happened, but would not elaborate. It was not until 11:30 p.m. when TMI issued a news release regarding the incident.

Some residents are concerned that they did not know about the incident sooner. "It didn't sound like it was anything major, like it was back in '79," said Karl Kugle, of Highspire.

"It could have been worse and for them to assume, 'Well it was negligible so we don't have to inform anybody, you know, we can work on this,' still not the way it should be, especially after '79," said Ed Miller, of Middletown.

"I was kinda iffy," said Christine Crumlich, of Middletown. "You know, they say that nothing happened, but then again you really never know if that's the whole story or not."

TMI insists it is the whole story. Plant officials say the radiation was isolated to a reactor building and that public safety was never endangered.

 Email To Friend