The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Monday afternoon that it was investigating the "unplanned radiation exposures" of three workers on April 3, a week earlier, at the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Neb.
The NRC said it did not believe the exposure exceeded its limits.
"Workers removed a long tube contaminated with highly radioactive material through the bottom of the reactor vessel, rather than through the top as is usually done, triggering radiation alarms," the NRC reported. "The workers set the tube down and immediately left the area."
The Cooper plant has a single boiling-water reactor of General Electric design. (GE is a part owner of NBCUniversal, which owns half of msnbc.com.)
Here's a map of the plant, which is about 25 miles from Nebraska City, Neb., and south of Omaha.
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/11/6452465-three-workers-exposed-to-radiation-at-nebraska-nuclear-plant
The full release from the NRC:
