Fire from hydrogen delivery truck reported at Duane Arnold

PALO – One person was hurt after a fire involving a delivery vehicle at the Duane Arnold Energy plant at approximately 1:30 p.m. today.

“This event took place outside of the protected area of the plant and has no impact on nuclear safety or to the safety of the public,” according to a statement from the plant.

Officials say the incident poses no threat to the plant, which continues to operate as normal. Duane Arnold employees are responding as outlined in their procedures.

“By procedure, the facility dispatched our internal fire brigade. In addition, the Palo and Hiawatha fire departments are onsite and the fire is under control,” the statement reads.

The driver of the vehicle, who is not an employee of Duane Arnold, was injured and has been transported to a local hospital.

The vehicle was delivering hydrogen to the facility.

The following is a press release issued Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to monitor a fire at the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant that is being fuelled by hydrogen from the tank of a delivery truck.  Hydrogen is used in plant operations to cool the main turbine generator.

The NRC activated its Emergency Response Center at the Region 3 office in Lisle, Ill., to monitor an Alert that was declared at the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant at 2:08 p.m. CDT.  The plant is located about eight miles northwest from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The plant operator, NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, declared an alert due to a truck catching fire as it was making a delivery to the plant.  The fire is in the vicinity of the utility's pump house which houses plant equipment but is outside the plant protected area.  No plant safety related equipment has been affected by the fire and the plant continues to operate at 100 percent power.  There is no impact to public health.

The utility has reported that the truck driver was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.  Local fire departments have responded to the site.

An alert is the second lowest of four emergency levels for a nuclear power plant and represents degradation in plant safety.

Two NRC resident inspectors at the plant and staff in the Region 3 office are responding to the event and will continue to monitor the situation until it is resolved.  The agency's primary concern is to make sure the public is protected and that the plant operator is taking appropriate actions to address the issue.

The NRC will evaluate the circumstances around the event once the situation is resolved.