The Pilgrim Nuclear Power plant in Plymouth is operating at just about 30% capacity after operators discovered a leak in the condenser system.
The leak is somewhere in the thousands of metal tubes that carry seawater from Cape Cod Bay to cool the steam produced by the reactor.
The leak means that seawater is being mixed with fresh water returning to the reactor. The salinity of that water is highly corrosive to the power plant’s system.
While no radiation was released as a result of the leak, workers assigned to finding and repairing the leak will need to do so in an area where there is some radioactivity. Those workers will affect the repairs in protective gear.