Spain's nuclear watchdog at the weekend said it had detected a radioactive leak at an Endesa nuclear plant in the northeast Catalonia region but said any exposure would have been well below legal maximums. The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) was informed of the leak on Friday but said radioactive particles detected at the Asco I plant most likely came from an air filtering system that was contaminated while the reactor was being refueled in November.
By Martin Roberts
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's nuclear watchdog at the weekend said it had detected a radioactive leak at an Endesa nuclear plant in the northeast Catalonia region but said any exposure would have been well below legal maximums.
The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) was informed of the leak on Friday but said radioactive particles detected at the Asco I plant most likely came from an air filtering system that was contaminated while the reactor was being refueled in November.
In a Saturday statement, the CSN said the radioactive particles had been detected during routine inspection on the outside of buildings at the 1,000-megawatt plant.
!ADVERTISEMENT!"In the most unfavorable scenario it (radioactivity) may have caused doses to workers, the public and environment very much below established legal limits," the statement said.
The CSN added that inspections had been stepped up at the plant and particles were being cleaned up as and when they were detected.
The CSN statement followed an earlier one by environmental group Greenpeace saying "important levels of radioactive contamination" of at least five curies had been found at the plant due to particles of cobalt and manganese.
The Asco I plant was shown as working normally on the CSN web site.
Asco I has a pressurized water reactor (PWR) and is wholly owned by Spain's second largest utility Endesa. It came on stream in August 1983 and its operating permit is due to expire in 2011.
Spain's Socialist government has pledged to phase out the country's eight nuclear plants and instead step up electricity generation from renewable energy sources.
Doubts remain, however, over whether existing plants will have their working lives extended.
(Reporting by Martin Roberts; Editing by Daniel Fineren)
