Nuclear Event - State of Delaware, [Salem Nuclear Power Plant]

Earth Watch Report  -  Nuclear Event

The Salem 2 nuclear reactor, seen at right at PSEG Nuclear's Artificial Island generating complex in Lower Alloways Creek Township, returned to service this morning.Staff Photo by Britney Lillya

  By South Jersey Times

Salem Unit 2 nuclear reactor shut down after control rod issue

on January 31, 2014 at 2:21 PM
LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP.
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Nuclear Event

USA

State of Delaware, [Salem Nuclear Power Plant]

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Nuclear Event in USA on Saturday, 01 February, 2014 at 05:43 (05:43 AM) UTC.

Description

Salem Unit 2 was manually taken offline by control room operators at 10:01 a.m. Friday, according to Joe Delmar, spokesman for PSEG Nuclear, after an issue with one of the control rods. There was no threat to the health and safety of the public, and no issues with the manual shutdown, he added. A return to service is not available at this time. The plant had been online 430 consecutive days, Delmar said, and it produces 1175 megawatts of electricity �" enough power for a million homes. On Friday morning, Delmar said control room operators were conducting monthly testing on the control rods used to control reactor power. During the monthly testing, one of the control rods dropped out of its expected position, he said. At this time, the expected cause of the control rod mispositioning is believed to be a blown fuse with a more detailed investigation under way. In a pressurized water reactor like Salem, the control rods are inserted into the top of the fuel assemblies. There are 193 nuclear fuel assemblies inside the Salem reactor core and 53 control rods. In response to the control rod mispositioning, Delmar said control room operators took appropriate actions including adding boron to the reactor water to reduce power level and maintain shutdown margin as required by NRC technical specifications. Operators then made the subsequent conservative decision to safely shut the unit down, he said. Salem Unit 1 and the neighboring Hope Creek plant were not impacted and remain at full power. Salem 2 is one of three reactors operated by PSEG Nuclear at its generating site on Artificial Island here.

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