Ernie Garcia, elgarcia@lohud.com
A
review of unplanned shutdowns from January 2012 to the present showed
this year’s events happened within a short time frame, between May 7 and
July 8, in contrast with events from other years that were more spread
out, according to data released by Indian Point.
If
a nuclear plant has more than three unplanned shutdowns in a nine-month
period, its performance indicator could be changed by the federal
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which results in additional oversight.
That’s what happened with Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in
Plymouth, Mass., after four unplanned shutdowns in 2013.
So far, Entergy said there doesn’t appear to be a pattern to the Indian Point shutdowns.
“You do want to look at these events holistically to see if there is something in common, but you also look individually to see what the causes were,” Nappi said. “A plant shutdown in and of itself is not a safety issue.”
“You do want to look at these events holistically to see if there is something in common, but you also look individually to see what the causes were,” Nappi said. “A plant shutdown in and of itself is not a safety issue.”
One
of the four recent Buchanan shutdowns triggered a special inspection by
the NRC and calls to close the nuclear plant by environmental groups
and elected officials. Gov.
Andrew Cuomo has said in the past Indian Point should close, but his
office did not respond to a request for comment about whether the recent
shutdowns have prompted any state scrutiny.
The
NRC is expected to release a quarterly report on Indian Point this
month that will address the transformer failure and, by year’s end, is
planning an inspection of the transformer and an analysis of transformer
issues since 2007.
Besides
its transformer-related inquiries, the other three shutdowns have not
raised “any immediate safety concerns or crossed any thresholds that
would result in additional NRC oversight,” agency spokesman Neil Sheehan
wrote in an email.
The
unplanned shutdowns at Indian Point and Pilgrim in Massachusetts were
mostly preventable, said Paul Blanch, a former Indian Point employee
with 45 years of nuclear power experience.
“For this to happen this frequently indicates a deeper problem,” he said. “I believe it’s management oversight in the maintenance of these plants.”
“For this to happen this frequently indicates a deeper problem,” he said. “I believe it’s management oversight in the maintenance of these plants.”
Nappi
said the transformer that failed May 9 and caused a fire and oil spill
into the Hudson was regularly monitored. Investigators determined the
failure was due to faulty insulation.
“The
transformer inspection and reviews were in accordance with our
standards and industry expectations, yet there was no indication the
transformer was going to fail,” Nappi said.
The NRC conducted a separate, but related special inspection into the May 9 incident that focused on a half-inch of water that collected in an electrical switchgear room floor. Inspectors determined a fire suppression system’s valve failed to close properly.
The NRC conducted a separate, but related special inspection into the May 9 incident that focused on a half-inch of water that collected in an electrical switchgear room floor. Inspectors determined a fire suppression system’s valve failed to close properly.
Inspectors
noted in their report that Entergy knew about that problem since April
2011 and replaced the valve but didn’t discover the actual cause — a
dysfunctional switch — until after the fire.
Indian Point’s Unit 3 was down 19 days May through July, with the transformer failure accounting for 16 days. The
shutdowns didn’t cause the public any supply problems because New
York’s grid can import electricity from other states and New York has an
energy plan to maintain reliability, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration.
The nuclear energy industry judges a power plant on how continuously it produces energy, which is called a capacity factor.
There
were 100 nuclear plants in the United States in 2014, a record year in
terms of efficiency. In January, the Nuclear Energy Institute announced
the U.S. average capacity factor was 91.9 percent.
Indian Point has an above-average efficiency rate. The plant’s Unit 2 and 3 reactors were each online more than 99 percent of the time during their most recent two-year operating cycles. They are currently in the middle of other cycles.
Indian Point has an above-average efficiency rate. The plant’s Unit 2 and 3 reactors were each online more than 99 percent of the time during their most recent two-year operating cycles. They are currently in the middle of other cycles.
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