After more than a week of investigations into a transformer failure at the nuclear power plant in Buchanan, the plant’s owner said it is seeking to recover 16,000 gallons of leaked oil.
The Unit 3 reactor at Indian Point Energy Center automatically shut down on May 9 when an electric transformer failed and ruptured, causing two fires and leaking oil into the Hudson River.
“Visual observations in the discharge canal and the Hudson River have not indicated significant quantities of transformer oil,” according to a statement from Entergy Corp., the company that owns and operates Indian Point.
There was no radioactive material leaked as a result of the explosion.
Booms were placed in the river to absorb oil and mitigate any possible impacts on the environment. A spokesman for Entergy said it is not clear what portion of the escaped oil is on-site and what reached the river.
Entergy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Conservation have investigated and coordinated environmental recovery efforts.
The transformer holds about 20,000 gallons of a light dielectric oil that is used as an insulator to cool the electrical device. About 8,300 gallons of oil has been recovered from drains, a moat system used to catch fluid from the transformer and other areas near it.
Unit 3 remains offline, and the cause of the transformer failure is still being investigated. The cause is not anticipated to become publicly available until late June.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency charged with overseeing nuclear power plants, will hold an annual regulatory performance public meeting in Tarrytown on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
