Indian Point Unit 2 Nuclear Reactor - Gov. Shut down

Gov’t: Shutdown at U.S. nuclear plant after 10 control rods accidentally fall into reactor core — Caused by ‘smoldering’ event, Fire Brigade on scene — Incident of this type could lead to overheating, potentially resulting in ‘supercriticality’ — Official: No ‘immediate’ concern (VIDEO)
http://enenews.com/govt-shutdown-nuclear-plant-after-rods-accidentally-fall-reactor-core-caused-smoldering-event-fire-brigade-scene-incident-could-lead-overheating-potentially-resulting-supercriticality-officia

December 5, 2015 - MANUAL REACTOR TRIP INITIATED DUE TO MULTIPLE DROPPED CONTROL RODS — At 1731 [EST] on December 5, 2015, Indian Point Unit 2 Control Room operators initiated a Manual Reactor Trip due to indications of multiple dropped Control Rods. The initiating event was a smoldering Motor Control Center (MCC) cubicle in the Turbine Building that supplies power to the Rod Control System… The affected cubicle has ceased smoldering and is being monitored by on-site Fire Brigade trained personnel… The cause of the smoldering MCC is being investigated and a post reactor trip evaluation is being conducted by the licensee… The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector and appropriate State and Local authorities.

The Journal News, Dec 7, 2015: One of Indian Point’s two nuclear reactors will remain shut down for the next couple of days following a power loss on Saturday, a company spokesman said Sunday. Unit 2 was powered down around 5:20 p.m. Saturday by operators after about 10 control rods “dropped” into the reactor core, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Committee… Neel Sheehan, a spokesperson for the NRC, said a preliminary investigation indicated the problem stemmed from a sudden power loss to the mechanism holding the rods. The plant’s control rods, made of materials that can absorb neutrons, are used to control the fissioning of atoms that generate power… Government inspectors visited Indian Point on Saturday and Sunday. “No immediate concerns were identified,” Sheehan said in an e-mail, adding that inspectors would return to the site “to follow up on troubleshooting, repair activities and restart planning.”

Gothamist, Dec 6, 2015: In a statement, Gov. Cuomo… said he’s sending a team from the Department of Public Service to investigate the incident and monitor the process of bringing the reactor back online.

Watch a broadcast on the Indian Point shutdown here:

Indian Point Plant to remain closed until equipment issue to fixed

Officials say there was no radiation released during the incident, is not connected to Saturday night power outage
http://www.fios1news.com/lowerhudsonvalley/indian-point-remains-closed#.VmcmR7vluih

These Nuclear power units are 40 years old and were due to be decommissioned, but extension has been applied for.
_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Point_Energy_Center

Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, New York just south of Peekskill. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, 25 miles north of New York City. The plant generates over 2,000 megawatts (MWe) of electrical power. For reference, the record peak energy consumption of New York City and Westchester County(The Con Edison Service Territory) was set during a seven-day heat wave on July 19, 2013 at 13,322 megawatts.[1] Electrical energy consumption varies greatly with time of day and season.[2]

The plant is owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear Northeast, a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, and includes two operating Westinghouse pressurized water reactors – designated "Indian Point 2" and "Indian Point 3" – which Entergy bought from Consolidated Edison and the New York Power Authority respectively. The facility also contains the permanently shut-down Indian Point Unit 1 reactor.[3] As of 2015, the number of permanent jobs at the Buchanan plant is approximately 1,000.[4]

The original 40-year operating licenses for units 2 and 3 expire in September 2013 and December 2015, respectively. Entergy has applied for license extensions and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is moving toward granting a twenty-year extension for each reactor. Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, however, wants the units shut down at the end of their current license periods.[5] As of midnight on September 28, 2013, Unit 2 has entered its "Period of Extended Operation" (PEO) until the NRC makes a final determination on its license renewal application.[6]
[...]

Indian Point 1, built by Consolidated Edison, was a 275-megawatt pressurized water reactor which was issued an operating license on March 26, 1962 and began operations on September 16, 1962.[7] The first core used a thorium-based fuel, but this fuel did not live up to expectations.[8] The plant was operated with uranium dioxide fuel for the remainder of its life. The reactor was shut down on October 31, 1974 because the emergency core cooling system did not meet regulatory requirements. All spent fuel was removed from the reactor vessel by January 1976. The licensee, Entergy, plans to decommission Unit 1 when Unit 2 is decommissioned.[9]

The two additional reactors, Indian Point 2 and 3, are four-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactors both of similar design. Units 2 and 3 were completed in 1974 and 1976, respectively. Unit 2 has a generating capacity of 1,032 MW, and Unit 3 has a generating capacity of 1,051 MW. Both reactors use uranium dioxide fuel of no more than 4.8% U.

[...]

Units 2 and 3 are two of six operating nuclear energy sources in New York State. New York is one of the five largest states in terms of nuclear capacity and generation, accounting for approximately 5% of the national totals. Indian Point provides 39% of the state's nuclear capacity.

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Turkey Point in Biscayne Bay, Florida - leaking higher than normal levels of tritium.

FPL nuclear plant canals leaking into Biscayne Bay, study confirms
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article64667452.html

* Radioactive ‘tracer’ detected at up to 215 normal levels near canals

* County commission set to discuss cooling canal problems Tuesday

* Threat from pollution to public, marine life not addressed in report

A radioactive isotope linked to water from power plant cooling canals has been found in high levels in Biscayne Bay, confirming suspicions that Turkey Point’s aging canals are leaking into the nearby national park.

According to a study released Monday by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, water sampling in December and January found tritium levels up to 215 times higher than normal in ocean water. The report doesn’t address risks to the public or marine life but tritium is typically monitored as a “tracer” of nuclear power plant leaks or spills.

The study comes two weeks after a Tallahassee judge ordered the utility and the state to clean up the nuclear plant’s cooling canals after concluding that they had caused a massive underground saltwater plume to migrate west, threatening a wellfield that supplies drinking water to the Florida Keys. The judge also found the state failed to address the pollution by crafting a faulty management plan.

This latest test, critics say, raise new questions about what they’ve long suspected: That canals that began running too hot and salty the summer after FPL overhauled two reactors to produce more power could also be polluting the bay.

An aging US nuclear reactor just north of New York City has been shut down over water leakamid calls by New York governor for permanent closure of the plant which has been plagued by problems in past years.

New York nuclear reactor shuts down over water leak
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/06/25/472175/US-nuclear-reactor-shutdown-water-leaks-New-York-City-Governor-Andrew-Cuomo

Nuclear control room operators at Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan removed Unit 2 reactor from service on Friday morning to complete weld repairs to a pipe that had been leaking “a small amount of Hudson River water,” said a statement by the plant’s operator, Entergy Corporation.

While the statement insisted that there was “no challenge to safety” in the 43-year-old plant, currently operating under a temporary license, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo referred to the development as the latest of persisting safety issues at the nuclear facility.

“The unexpected shutdown of the reactor at Indian Point 2 because of the weld leak is just the latest example of the repeated and continuing problems at the plant,” Cuomo said in a statement on Saturday.

Missing bolts The democratic governor has repeatedly called for the closure of the troubled nuclear power plant, located 50 miles from the densely populated city.

“In the last year alone, there has been unprecedented degradation of Indian Point Unit 2 baffle-former bolts, groundwater contamination, and increased Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) oversight at Unit 3 due to numerous unplanned shutdowns.”

“This is yet another sign that the aging and wearing away of important components at the facility are having a direct and unacceptable impact on safety, and is further proof that the plant is not a reliable generation resource,” he noted.

This is while Entergy just returned the Unit 2 reactor to service on June 16 ‒ despite objections from local lawmakers, residents and environmental organizations ‒ following a $120-million inspection and upgrade of plant equipment and systems after a shutdown in March.

According to local press reports, during the March shutdown, inspectors found out that more than 200 bolts needed further analysis, and some on the reactor’s inner liner were missing.

In the past 11 years, Indian Point has had nine incidents, including transformer fires and leaks in spent fuel pools. At one point, its reactor shut down because a bird was defecating on power lines.

Despite such mishaps, Entergy’s spokeswoman Patricia Kakridis stated earlier this year that the nuclear facility “is safe, and it is operating safely,” blaming “opposition groups” for delaying the plant’s license renewal.

Indian Point operates two nuclear power plants, Unit 2 and Unit 3, which generate roughly 2,000 megawatts of electricity for homes, business and public facilities in New York City and Westchester County.

Along with the Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan shut down last Friday, another nuclear faculty in New York State, the FitzPatrick nuclear plant, on Lake Ontario, had to be shut down manually.

FitzPatrick nuke, the source of lake oil spill, shut down suddenly Friday
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/fitzpatrick_nuke_the_source_of_lake_oil_spill_shut_down_suddenly_friday.html

The FitzPatrick nuclear plant, the source of a visible oil slick on Lake Ontario, had to be shut down manually Friday after a loss of power caused water pumps to stop working.

The plant remains in cold shutdown today, according to federal regulators.

The problems Friday started when a circuit breaker tripped at 12:15 p.m., according to a report filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A pump in the reactor cooling system also tripped offline, forcing operators to manually shut the reactor down at 12:36 p.m., the report said.

All the control rods were inserted to stop the nuclear reaction, and the process was begun to put the reactor in cold shutdown status, plant operators told the NRC on Friday. A "cold shutdown,'' the state in which refueling outages are conducted, means the temperature in the reactor coolant system is below 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Just before 3 a.m. today, FitzPatrick officials reported that the sheen on the surface of Lake Ontario that was observed Sunday by the Coast Guard was caused by oil leaking from the nuclear plant's turbine building.

Plant officials said lubrication oil leaked from a storage tank because of an apparent equipment failure. The oil pooled on the roof, then leaked down a roof drain and found its way into the lake, said Jerry Nappi, speaking for plant owner Entergy Corp.

The leak had been stopped and cleanup efforts were underway this morning, according to NRC records. It's not clear whether the oil leak was related to the emergency shutdown of the plant Friday.

Neil Sheehan of the NRC told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that roughly 20-30 gallons of oil leaked into the lake.

Officials from Entergy and the NRC could not immediately be reached for further information. Officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation said they are investigating the oil spill.

Six Nuclear Power Plants in New York State.

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1. Ginna - a nuclear power plant located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, in the town of Ontario, Wayne County, New York, approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of Rochester, New York.

2. Indian Point Energy Center - located in Buchanan, New York just south of Peekskill. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 36 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.

3. The James A. Fitzpatrick - Nuclear Power Plant is located in the Town of Scriba, near Oswego, New York, on the southeast shore of Lake Ontario.

4. The Kintigh Generating Station, also known as Somerset Operating Co. LLC of the Upstate New York Power Producers is a 675-megawatt coal-fired power plant located in Somerset, New York, United States.

5. Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant with two nuclear reactors located in the town of Scriba, approximately five miles northeast of Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario.

6. The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant located adjacent to Long Island Sound in East Shoreham, New York.