The Honeywell facility in Metropolis resumed full production Wednesday after a root-cause investigation into a leak that occurred Aug. 1, according to a company statement.
“The investigation, the results of which were shared with NRC inspectors, found that the cause was the over pressurization of a system that was undergoing maintenance at the time,” the statement read. “The plant has undertaken a number of immediate corrective actions to prevent such an incident in the future and has reviewed these with the NRC.”
The leak led to a release of 12.04 pounds of UF6, or about four cups in liquid state. The uranium hexafluoride converted to 2.41 pounds of hydrofluoric acid when it was exposed to air. According to the statement, the state of Illinois only requires plants to report releases more than 100 pounds of hydrofluoric acid.
