Digital Camera Triggers Nuclear Plant Shutdown in NY

Who knew? A couple weeks ago at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, New York, the radio frequencies from an employee's digital camera apparently interfered with a control panel it was near. The control panel regulated a boiler pump that provides water to steam generators and the interference resulted in a water level drop, which resulted in the shutdown of the nuclear reactor. There were no environmental problems associated with the shutdown. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) simply having the digital camera "on" was enough to interfere with controls at the close distance. The nuclear plan regularly uses cameras to document equipment and this accidental shutdown has resulted in some fresh new policies as you can imagine. In 1997 there was an incident where Halon gas was released in Connecticut at the Haddam Neck Plant caused by camera flashes. Careful, Homer! (via newsday)

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