Officials at the Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville, Nebraska say the public was not put at risk, and workers were not exposed to an increase in radiation, after an incident Saturday at the power plant. Cooper is currently shut down for a planned refueling outage.

During the incident, a control rod blade fell from a lifting tool and came to rest atop the reactor vessel top guide in a section with no fuel.  The incident happened shortly after 7pm Saturday.

In a news release, the Nebraska Public Power District says plant personnel responded appropriately and are working with the contractor and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  Personnel suspended all activities in the area to inspect and evaluate the fuel.

The control blade was successfully and safely removed and placed in the proper location in the spent fuel pool early Monday morning. There was no increase in radiation exposure to workers, and at no time was the public at risk from the incident, according to the NPPD.

While the plant was shut down for a planned refueling outage, specialized contract technicians were performing a planned, underwater control blade “shuffle” where certain blades are replaced and others moved to new locations in the reactor core. One of the control rod blades fell from the lifting tool and came to rest atop the reactor vessel top guide in a section that contained no fuel.

There were no indications of any adverse impact to the station’s fuel or radiation levels, according to the news release.  Read the entire release here.