A truck delivering hydrogen to the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa caught fire Tuesday, burning for several hours but posing little threat to the plant’s reactor.At about 1:30 p.m CST a semi delivering multiple tanks of the flammable gas caught fire near a pump house containing safety equipment, triggering the assistance of local first responders and an “alert” – the second of four categories of emergencies at plants overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. According to an NRC release, the truck was outside the plant’s protected area. Operator NextEra Energy Duane Arnold LLC kept the plant’s reactor running at full power as firefighters from the facility and other jurisdictions worked to extinguish the truck.The cause of the fire was unknown as of late Tuesday night. The truck’s driver was hospitalized with minor injuries, a NextEra Energy spokeswoman was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. The NRC said its regional Emergency Response Center in Illinois was activated after the alert was declared at 2:08 p.m.According to the NRC, NextEra and minority partners at the plant operate a 640-megawatt, GE-4 boiling water reactor with Mark I containment licensed in 1974. The plant, outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa, uses hydrogen to reduce corrosion in some of its systems. The NRC said plant safety and public health were not compromised by the fire.
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