The Virginia nuclear plant that shut down during the August 23 earthquake leaked cooling water into a nearby body of water, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Inspectors detected the leak at the North Anna plant, near Mineral, Virginia, on October 14.
The water came from out of a loose valve in the plant's cooling tower system. Approximately 272 gallons is believed to have run out of the leaky valve, down into the North Anna Lake.
According to a NRC report, the spilled cooling water was not dangerous to the public's health.
"Samples of the bearing cooling water were analyzed by Chemistry. All chemical parameters analyzed were within VPDES (Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) limits," the NRC wrote in its report.
The North Anna nuclear power plant is operated by Dominion Power.
In Richmond on Monday, Va. Governor Bob McDonnell held a conference on energy. Speaking before the crowd there, former EPA administrator Christie Whitman told the assembled crowd, "Our nuclear industry is extremely safe," the Richmond Times-Dispatch recorded.
