"Tubes are vibrating and rubbing against adjacent tubes and against support structures inside the steam generators, " the agency noted.
The water leak occurred in thousands of tubes that carry heated water from the reactor core through the plant's steam generators.
The fire at about 18:30 BST on Saturday led to the venting of steam generators which caused noise and would have been visible to people living nearby.
KHIC, also widely known as Hanjung, had been in the Gulf since 1986, providing heat-recovery steam generators for the Jebel Ali thermal power plant in the United Arab Emirates.
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In addition to driving the turbines to create electricity, the steam generators are "one of the barriers between the radioactive material in the reactor core and ultimately the external environment, " Jaczko noted.
Integral reactor systems -- including the reactor vessel itself, six steam generators, five primary coolant pumps, 12 isolation valves and more -- were stored outside for up to 18 months, exposed to highly corrosive tropical sea air and weather.
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After all, it spawned George and Robert Stephenson's railway engines, Joseph Swan's electric light bulbs, and Sir Charles Parson's steam turbines and electricity generators.
Still, a senior administration official confirmed Wednesday that there has been increased activity at the facility, including the restarting of generators to create steam for reprocessing.
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The steam turns turbines, which in turn drive electric generators.
The heat produces steam in a separate loop that drives the plant's turbines and generators.
Last year, federal regulators blamed heavy tube wear in the generators on a botched computer analysis that they said badly misjudged how water and steam would flow in the reactors, along with manufacturing problems.
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