A minor leak of "slightly radioactive water" was reported at Penn State's Breazeale Nuclear Reactor on Hastings Road last night, a university spokeswoman said.

Breazeale authorities are using a number of methods to find the source of the leak, said Andrea Messer, university senior science and research spokeswoman. The leak is not harmful to students, she added.

"The levels of radiation are so incredibly low," she said. "Basically, if you drank nothing but the water for an entire year, you would get less than half the dosage of an X-ray."

Breazeale authorities noticed a decrease of several hundred gallons of water from the 71,000-gallon reactor pool over the past few days, according to Penn State Live's Web site, live.psu.edu.

Authorities regularly check water levels at the reactor for water that is naturally lost through evaporation.

"[Scientists at the nuclear reactor] have assured us there's no danger of any sort, and we're working with the authorities to identify the problem and get it fixed," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

Messer said there is much more naturally occurring radiation than the radiation in the water from the nuclear reactor.

"If you live in Central Pennsylvania, you get far more than that just living here," she said.

The rate of the pool leak is estimated at 10 gallons per hour but can be easily replaced from existing sources, according to the Live statement.

Penn State has alerted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection of the situation because of federal and state law requirements regarding the nonstandard release of water into the environment. They have also notified the United States Nuclear Regulatory Committee, although this action was not required, according to Live.

The nuclear reactor will be out of service until Breazeale authorities find the source of the leak.
Classroom instruction and other research activities at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center that do not involve the reactor are continuing, Messer said.

The reactor -- the longest operating licensed one in the county -- began operating in 1955 under U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" program to be a learning tool for nuclear technology.

By its 50th anniversary in 1995, the reactor had hosted more than 100,000 visitors.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission deemed it "at risk," despite its small size.

But, Mahon said, Penn State students, faculty and employees should not be concerned about their safety.

"It's built a certain way," he said, "and it's a very safe kind of design."