BUCHANAN - A malfunctioning roof fan caused a power failure for control rods at Indian Point Unit 2, leading to a temporary shutdown of the nuclear reactor, a company spokesman said Monday.
Unit 2, one of the two reactors at the Indian Point Energy Center, was manually shut down at about 5:20 p.m. Saturday after about 10 control rods "dropped" into the reactor core. The reactor is expected to resume its operation either Tuesday or Wednesday, said Jerry Nappi, spokesman for Entergy Corp., which owns and operates the Buchanan nuclear plant. The plant's other reactor, Unit 3, keeps running.
Control rods, which are held in place by powered magnets, are designed to adjust the power level of the fuel inside the reactor. When a malfunctioning roof fan caused a short circuit, the magnets lost power, and control rods were released into the reactor. Per practice, the reactor was manually shut down by the operators, Nappi said. (Control rods shouldn't be confused with fuel rods, which hold uranium pellets.)Kind of unprecedented a Governor is so mistrustful of a plant...he sends a special state team to ascertain the true condition of the plant:
No radioactivity was released from Unit 2 because of Saturday's incident, according to Entergy.
Two inspectors from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have verified the plant's safety on Saturday and Sunday....
It is poor professionalism.Entergy owned Indian Point power plant forced to shut down after power lossBy Ken Sturtz | ksturtz@syracuse.com Follow on Twitter
on December 05, 2015 at 11:58 PM, updated December 06, 2015 at 12:00 AMBUCHANAN, N.Y. -- One of the Indian Point nuclear power plants outside New York City was forced to shut down unexpectedly Saturday after a power loss to several control rods.
Entergy, which operates the Fitzpatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County, said control room operators shut down Indian Point's unit 2 power plant around 5:30 p.m.In a statement Gov. Andrew Cuomo said said he had directed the state Department of Public Service to "investigate and monitor the situation." A team was heading to the plant Saturday…
MANUAL REACTOR TRIP INITIATED DUE TO MULTIPLE DROPPED CONTROL RODS
"At 1731 [EST] on December 5, 2015, Indian Point Unit 2 Control Room operators initiated a Manual Reactor Trip due to indications of multiple dropped Control Rods. The initiating event was a smoldering Motor Control Center (MCC) cubicle in the Turbine Building that supplies power to the Rod Control System. The unit is stable in Mode 3 with heat sink provided by Auxiliary Feedwater and decay heat removal is via the steam dumps to the condenser. Offsite Power remains in service.
"The smoldering MCC cubicle had power removed from it when 24 MCC breaker tripped on overcurrent. The affected cubicle has ceased smoldering and is being monitored by on-site Fire Brigade trained personnel. The trip of 24 MCC removed power to 22 Battery Charger, 22 DC Bus remained powered from the 22 Battery without interruption, and 22 Battery Charger was subsequently repowered."
The cause of the smoldering MCC is being investigated and a post reactor trip evaluation is being conducted by the licensee. There was no impact on Unit 3, which continues to operate at 100% power.
The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector and appropriate State and Local authorities.
Entergy owned Indian Point power plant forced to shut down after power loss
The nuclear power plant at Indian Point in Buchanan, N.Y., is visible with the Hudson River in the foreground in this file photo. ( AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
on December 05, 2015 at 11:58 PM, updated December 06, 2015 at 12:00 AM
BUCHANAN, N.Y. -- One of the Indian Point nuclear power plants outside New York City was forced to shut down unexpectedly Saturday after a power loss to several control rods.
Entergy, which operates the Fitzpatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County, said control room operators shut down Indian Point's unit 2 power plant around 5:30 p.m.
The operators observed that several control rods lost power. Entergy said that if power to control rods is lost, they are designed to automatically insert into the nuclear fuel core to safely shut down the reactor and power plant.
Entergy said it was investigating what had caused the loss of power to the control rods, but that everything had operated as designed and the plant safely shut down.
Unit 3 was not affected. Entergy said Unit 2 was online for 627 days before Saturday. The two Indian Point plants are about 25 miles north of New York City and generate about 2,000 megawatts of electricity a year for the city and Westchester County.
In a statement Gov. Andrew Cuomo said said he had directed the state Department of Public Service to "investigate and monitor the situation." A team was heading to the plant Saturday.
Indian Point has featured prominently in Entergy's fight with the state to close the money losing Fitzpatrick plant. The company announced last month that it planned to to lay off half of the 615 employees when the plant shuts down, sometime late next year or early in 2017.
Many observers, including Wall Street analysts, speculated that Entergy sought a compromise to settle the future of its profitable Indian Point nuclear station in Westchester County. Cuomo opposed Entergy's application to extend the operating license, arguing that Indian Point is too close to New York City to be safe.
Entergy, which operates the Fitzpatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County, said control room operators shut down Indian Point's unit 2 power plant around 5:30 p.m.
The operators observed that several control rods lost power. Entergy said that if power to control rods is lost, they are designed to automatically insert into the nuclear fuel core to safely shut down the reactor and power plant.
Entergy said it was investigating what had caused the loss of power to the control rods, but that everything had operated as designed and the plant safely shut down.
Unit 3 was not affected. Entergy said Unit 2 was online for 627 days before Saturday. The two Indian Point plants are about 25 miles north of New York City and generate about 2,000 megawatts of electricity a year for the city and Westchester County.
In a statement Gov. Andrew Cuomo said said he had directed the state Department of Public Service to "investigate and monitor the situation." A team was heading to the plant Saturday.
Indian Point has featured prominently in Entergy's fight with the state to close the money losing Fitzpatrick plant. The company announced last month that it planned to to lay off half of the 615 employees when the plant shuts down, sometime late next year or early in 2017.
Many observers, including Wall Street analysts, speculated that Entergy sought a compromise to settle the future of its profitable Indian Point nuclear station in Westchester County. Cuomo opposed Entergy's application to extend the operating license, arguing that Indian Point is too close to New York City to be safe.
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