Oyster Creek Operating At 85 Percent Of Power After Unplanned Shutdown, NRC Says

The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Plant in Lacey Township is operating at 85 percent of power today after being taken offline last week when a problem with a turbine surfaced.

"Operators are keeping the reactor at reduced power due to main turbine valve oscillations, or fluctuations," said NRC spokesman Neil R. Sheehan. "The company is actively troubleshooting the issue."

Operators first thought the unplanned reactor shutdown was triggered by an electrical relay problem involving the main turbine, he said.

But more investigation revealed there was no electrical problem, but an issue with main turbine control valves, Sheehan said.

"During surveillance testing of the turbine (prior to the scram, or shutdown), there were oscillations that caused two control valves to unexpectedly close," he said. "Our resident inspectors assigned to Oyster Creek on a full-time basis will continue to closely follow and review the company's troubleshooting efforts"

Oyster Creek is currently under increased NRC oversight because of a “White” (low to moderate safety significance) inspection finding it received earlier this year. The finding stemmed from the failure of a 3-inch hose that supplies water from a storage tank to a pump and in turn to one of the plant’s emergency diesel generators. The failure occurred during a regular test on Jan. 4, Sheehan said.

To read more on the NRC findings, click here.

Image: Exelon Corporation