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CHICAGO (AP) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the amount of radioactive tritium released in steam to cool a reactor during a shutdown at an Illinois nuclear plant was not enough to present a danger to the public.

Agency spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng says preliminary calculations indicate that the radiation dose from Monday's release at the Byron Generating Station was less than 0.001 (one one-thousandth) percent of the NRC's annual limit. That amount is thought to be safe to workers and the public.

The Byron plant is about 95 miles northwest of Chicago.

Even less tritium escaped in a 2010 steam release at the Braidwood nuclear plant about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

Final data will be available to the public after the Commission conducts a special investigation.

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