MINERAL, Va. (AP) — Dominion Virginia Power has found two damaged nuclear fuel rods in a reactor at its North Anna power plant in Louisa County.

The Richmond-based energy provider says the damaged fuel rods were discovered during the reactor’s scheduled refueling in early September.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/10jjmEV) that Dominion believes about 15 uranium fuel pellets came out of two rods and entered the reactor cooling system.

But because the radioactive uranium is contained in the reactor system, federal regulators say there’s a fairly low safety significance and there’s no concern radioactivity would be released into the environment.

Dominion Virginia Power’s four nuclear units at its North Anna and Surry power plants produce more than 40 percent of the electricity used by the company’s nearly 2.4 million customers.

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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com

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