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Florida Scuba Diver Sucked Into Nuclear Power Plant Intake Pipe Sues Nuclear Plant For Failed Safety Measures

By Tara West
Published on: 05:57 PST, Mar 5, 2016

A Florida scuba diver had a frightening experience while scuba diving with a friend just off Hutchingson Island in South Florida near Port St. Lucie. Father-of-two Christopher Le Cun was scuba diving when he noticed shadows of large objects hundreds of feet below. He decided to investigate the large structures. Le Cun swam up to the large structure that he said “looked like a building underwater” before suddenly feeling a strong current. Within moments, Le Cun said he was sucked inside one of the structures and experienced five full minutes of terror as he was pulled through complete darkness. The scuba diver said he was certain he was going to die and contemplated suicide as he feared he was about to be cut to pieces by whatever turbine was pulling the water in. However, Christopher didn’t die. He emerged inside the nuclear plant’s reservoir pool, unharmed, to the shock of a nearby nuclear plant employee. Now, Christopher Le Cun is suing Florida Power and Light for not having proper safety measures in place to prevent such frightening and potentially deadly situations.

The Daily Mail reported that Port St. Lucie resident and father-of-two Christopher Le Cun was terrified when he was sucked into a nuclear power plant intake pipe while scuba diving in Florida. The scuba diver said he was diving with a family friend when they noticed shadows from a large structure beneath the water. The pair decided to investigate and discovered a building-like structure under the water. As Christopher swam towards the “building,” he noticed a strong current. Within moments he was swept away by the current as the nuclear plant intake valve took in water at the rate of 500,000 gallons per minute.

Le Cun said that once he was sucked into the nuclear plant pipe it was total darkness for five minutes as he was pulled through the water. Christopher said he was certain he was going to die by being cut to pieces by the turbine forcefully pulling him through the water. In fact, he said he was so certain that he contemplated suicide and was going to simply kill himself before he could be cut to shreds by removing his regulator allowing himself to drown.

“I knew something was drawing all this water. All I could think about was these horror movies you know, this big turbine coming and I’m coming for it. You know, it’s going to chop me up and kill me. I contemplated, you know, do I just pull the regulator out of my mouth and just die? I started thinking about my family, you know, how are they going to survive without me?”

With his family on his mind, Christopher decided to face whatever death was ahead. He was surprised when all of a sudden he surfaced inside of the nuclear power plant’s reservoir pool. The diver said he was still in his scuba diving gear when he climbed out of the side of the pool, which is used to cool the nuclear power plant. He said a stunned worker was nearby who, after several moments of utter disbelief, allowed him to use a phone to call his wife to tell her he was okay.

WPTV notes that Christopher’s wife had stayed on the boat as her husband went diving with his friend and was shocked when the friend emerged telling her he believed Christopher had just been killed. The friend said he was certain Christopher had died as he witnessed the shocking, powerful suction of the pipe as his friend disappeared into the darkness.

“He got sucked in like a wet noodle. He just, poof, gone. Instant death. I saw my friend die.”

The shocked and terror-stricken friend who believed he just witnessed the death of his friend came to the surface to the boat screaming that Christopher was dead and that “something sucked him in.” Christopher’s wife Brittany said she didn’t believe the friend at first, but then saw the look on his face and knew he wasn’t joking.

“All I remember doing was grabbing my son, holding him, crying and praying out loud.”

Fortunately, after surfacing inside the nuclear plant, Christopher was able to contact Brittany.

Now, the family is suing Florida Power and Light claiming over the lack of warning signs around the intake pipe. The scuba divers note that this is not the first time a scuba diver has been sucked into the pipe. The same thing happened in 1989 to another scuba diver who described his experience in the exact same manner as Christopher, including the five minutes of complete, terrifying darkness.

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The power plant says that they have since placed a marker noting for divers to stay back 100 feet and claim that Christopher bypassed a safety barrier created to keep “objects” out of the pipe. However, Christopher says there were no markings on the “barrier” and that warning sides must be put in place to ensure this doesn’t happen to someone else.

Do you think Florida Power and Light should be held liable for the incident?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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