Reactor coolant is not dangerous. I will drink some. It is dangerous when there is fuel failure and the fission products get in the water. There is no fuel failure involved in this accident. Just let the N-16 gammas die down first.
A reactor will stay on line with less than 1 GPM unidentified RCS leakage and up to 6 GPM identified. Most power plants can figure out their leak rates immediately and track the leakage rate down to a gnat's ass.
The 75 GPM leakage would clearly be seen immediately if it was instantaneous. It would be identified by radiation monitors (pretty sensitive stuff) if in containment. The reactor was shutdown immediately and started to be cooled down / depressurized. The nice thing about this is that the charging pumps and High Pressure Safety Injection pumps would be able to handle a leak rate of 75 GPM quite handily.
It is not going to take months to recover from this maintenance opportunity (a cute little nuclear euphemism that means since this broke we can fix this other stuff).
It would take months or if ever to recover from a major loop blowout with fuel failure. This little accident is far from the design basis scenario.
Sounds reasonable, Mike.
But I recall a 6 GPM leak at Clinton (Illinois) in 96 that kept them down for more than 2 years. The NRC also saw the opportunity and went in and discovered all kinds of procedural, purchasing, inventory and record keeping problems.
PECO ended up buying the $3 Billion plant for $200 Million and Illinois Power customers got stuck with paying off the old bonds.