Nuclear Plant Missing Parts of a Fuel Rod

Two pieces of a highly radioactive fuel rod are missing from a Vermont nuclear plant, and engineers planned to search onsite for the material, officials said.

The fuel rod was removed in 1979 from the Vermont Yankee reactor, which is shut down for refueling and maintenance. Remote-control cameras will be used to search a spent-fuel pool on the property, officials said.

“We do not think there is a threat to the public at this point. The great probability is this material is still somewhere in the pool,” a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said.