One of Indian Point Energy Center”™s two nuclear reactors was shut down Monday night, just hours after a union representing 400 workers there agreed to strike if a new labor deal isn”™t reached by next week.
Indian Point 3 shut down automatically after the lowering of a water level inside one of the plant”™s steam generators, according to a statement from Entergy Corp., which owns the Buchanan power plant. The level decreased after the failure of a control device that regulates the water flow, the statement said.
The company said no radioactivity was released and there were no safety concerns from the incident. Indian Point 3 had been operating without a shutdown for 159 days prior to Monday and Indian Point 2 is in its 188th day of continuous operation, according to the company. Indian Point 1, which was first in operation in 1962, is no longer in use.
The news of the shutdown came Monday shortly after Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 announced that its members, which include 400 employees at Indian Point, agreed to authorize a strike, if necessary, against Entergy Corp. Union members will hold a “practice picket” Thursday afternoon on Broadway and Bleakly Avenue, in front of the plant. Both sides said they were continuing negotiations. The union’s current contract expires Jan. 17.
