By: Scott DiSavino |
Entergy Corp said it expects the
1,006-megawatt (MW) Unit 2 reactor at the Indian Point nuclear power plant to return to service in the next couple of days, following a shutdown for work earlier on Wednesday.
Entergy spokesman Jim Steets told Reuters there was a problem with an instrument air line that caused the unit’s main boiler feed pumps to shut down and the plant operators to shut the reactor.
The pumps are located on the non-nuclear side of the plant and feed water into the plant’s steam generator so it can be heated and turned into steam to make electricity, the company said.
There was no release of radiation and no threat to the safety of workers or the public, Entergy said, adding all equipment performed as designed in response to the shutdown.
The company said Unit 2 had been online for 138 continuous days prior to Wednesday’s shut down.
The 1,031-mw Unit 3 is currently operating at full power and has been online for 95 continuous days since completing a refueling outage in April, the company said.
One megawatt can power about 1,000 homes.
PLANT BACKGROUND/TIMELINE
STATE: New York
COUNTY: Westchester
TOWN: Buchanan about 45 miles (72 km) north of New York City
OPERATOR: Entergy Nuclear
OWNER(S): Entergy Nuclear
CAPACITY: 2,037 MW
UNIT(S): Unit 2 – 1,006 MW Westinghouse pressurized water reactor
Unit 3 – 1,031 MW Westinghouse pressurized water reactor
FUEL: Nuclear
DISPATCH: Baseload
COST: $2.450 billion (in 2007 US dollars)
TIMELINE:
- 1962 – Consolidated Edison gets operating license for the 275-MW Unit 1, a pressurized water reactor. The first core of Unit 1 used thorium based fuel but did not meet expectations and the plant was operated with uranium oxide fuel
- 1974 – Unit 1 shut
- 1974 – Unit 2 enters commercial service
- 1976 – Unit 3 enters commercial service
- 2000 – Entergy buys Unit 3 from NYPA
- 2001 – Entergy buys Unit 2 from Con Edison
- 2007 – Entergy files with NRC to renew both unit’s 40-year operating licenses for an additional 20 years.
- 2010 – NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) ruled Indian Point violates the federal Clean Water Act because the plant’s water intake system kills fish. The state wants Entergy to install a closed loop cooling system like cooling towers.
- 2011-13 – Entergy has argued before an administrative judge at the NY DEC that cooling towers would cost about $1.5 billion to $2 billion and could not be built before 2029. Opponents of the plant argue the company could install smaller cooling towers at a much lower cost. Instead of cooling towers, Entergy wants to install a $200 million to $250 million Wedgewire screen system that could be installed in about three years. The plant needs a water permit from the state before the NRC can issue new operating licenses.
- Oct 2012 – NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) to hold hearings on more than a dozen contentions from environmental groups and New York State opposed to the relicensing. With so many contentions, the NRC cannot say when the Commission will make a final decision on the relicensing. The reactors can continue to operate so long as the relicensing process continues.
- Jun 2013 – NRC staff completes supplemental environmental impact statement saying continued operation of reactors for 20 years would not harm the environment or aquatic life in the Hudson River
- 2013 – NRC staff expected to complete supplemental safety evaluation report
- 2013 – ASLB will allow interveners to file new contentions on the supplemental environmental and safety reports
- 2013 – DEC could decide on water permit issue
- 2013 – Unit 2 license expires
- 2015 – Unit 3 license expires
