Another nulear alert - North Carolina

As someone pointed out – NONE of these accidents are ever serious (sic)

Explosion at U.S. nuclear plant triggered emergency alert — It was “of sufficient force to damage permanent structures or equipment within the Protected Area” (VIDEO)

ENENews,

8 August, 2013

NRC: Current Event Notification Report for August 8, 2013 (Shearon Harris nuclear plant in North Carolina):

ALERT DECLARED DUE TO A SWITCHGEAR EXPLOSION THAT SUPPLIES SAFE SHUTDOWN EQUIPMENT

The licensee reported that there was an explosion in a non-safety related electrical bus (Bus 1E2). The bus is designated as a safe shut down bus. The licensee has classified this event as an Alert based on an EAL entry condition of “an explosion of sufficient force to damage permanent structures or equipment within the Protected Area.” [...]

* * * UPDATE AT 0404 EDT ON 8/8/13 [...]* * *

“Auxiliary bus 1E2 (safe shutdown equipment bus) is de-energized due to the explosion. The Alert was declared due to the explosion affecting safe shutdown equipment.” The licensee also noted that the event was initially classified as an Unusual Event at 0234 EDT and then upgraded to an Alert classification at 0305 EDT when the bus was determined to supply safe shutdown equipment. [...]

News Observer, August 8, 2013 at 12:30p ET: Explosion at Harris nuclear plant triggers brief emergency alert [...] “Operators noted smoke and assumed a fire until they were able to make an assessment,” said Progress spokeswoman Kim Crawford. [...] The incident triggered an emergency response because of the high risk of fires at nuclear power plants. [...] Fire is the leading risk of a nuclear accident, and a potential cause of half the accident scenarios that could lead to a nuclear meltdown or damage the reactor core. […]

See also: Alert at U.S. nuclear plant after equipment malfunction — Official: There was a little bit of smoke, so we had to declare this alert

Watch WRAL’s broadcast here