Philadelphia
nuclear reactor closed down
6
March 2014
Operators
shut down one of the reactors at a suburban Philadelphia nuclear
plant due to a problem with the system that controls the flow of
steam to the turbine.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil
Sheehan said that the Unit 1 control room at Exelon Nuclear's
Limerick Generating Station began lowering reactor power following
alarms late Tuesday.
They later "manually scrammed" the
reactor, inserting all control rods to shut it down, the first time
that has happened since July 2012 at the plant about 20 miles
northwest of Philadelphia.
Plant spokeswoman Dana Melia said there is
no threat to the public and service to customers will be unaffected.
She said the valves will be repaired and tested before the unit is
put back into service.
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/m/?pageid=event_details&edis_id=NC-2014030
Reactor
shut down unexpectedly at Limerick nuclear plant
Times
Herald
5
March 2014
Operators
of the Limerick Nuclear Generating Station shut down one of the
reactors at the plant unexpectedly late Tuesday night due to a
problem with the system that controls the flow of steam to the
turbine.
According
to a statement issued Wednesday morning by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, the first alarm sounded at 11:24 p.m.
“At
11:24 p.m. Tuesday, the Limerick Unit 1 control room received alarms
involving reactor feedwater heaters and the turbine. The operators in
turn began lowering reactor power,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan
wrote in a statement emailed to The Mercury, a sister paper of The
Times Herald, at 9:38 a.m. Wednesday.
“When
the level was at about 87 percent, at about 11:45 p.m., the operators
manually scrammed the reactor, which means they inserted all control
rods to halt the fissioning process and shut down the reactor,”
Sheehan wrote.
The
NRC’s on-site inspector was summoned and reviewed the actions taken
by the Exelon Nuclear employees.
Sheehan
said initial information indicates the problem was with the “turbine
electro-hydraulic control system,” which regulates the flow of
steam from the reactor to the turbine. The steam spins the turbine to
generate electricity.
“This
event presents no threat to public health and safety and will not
affect electrical service to customers. Limerick Unit 2 remains at
full power,” plant spokeswoman Dana Melia said in a press release
sent to The Mercury at 10:07 a.m. Wednesday.
“Our
initial assessment is that operator response to the condition and the
event appears to have been appropriate, but our reviews are
continuing,” Sheehan wrote.
He
also noted that the control system where the problem occurred “is
due to be replaced with a digital EHC system during an upcoming
refueling and maintenance outage.”
“Plant
personnel will repair and test the valves before placing the unit
back in service,” Melia said in the statement.
However,
Melia said plant management could not yet say how long it will take
to repair the problem, nor when Unit 1 will be back on online.
She
was unable, before deadline, to answer subsequent questions posed by
The Mercury.
This
is the first scram, or unscheduled reactor shutdown, of 2014 for the
plant and the first since July 2012.
Exelon
is seeking to renew the license for the nuclear plant, hoping to
continue operations there for 20 more years. The plant’s operating
licenses for its two reactors expire Oct. 26, 2024 (Unit 1) and June
22, 2029 (Unit 2).
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