The Unit 3 nuclear reactor at Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan automatically shut down Monday evening due to an electrical disturbance that affected the power plant’s main generator.
“Initial indications are that the electrical disturbance is related to a high-voltage transmission line that carries electricity from Unit 3 to an offsite electrical switchyard,” according to a statement from Entergy Corp., the company that owns the plant.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo released a statement shortly after the outage that in part said, “A thorough investigation of this shutdown is underway and we will make sure the safety of New Yorkers is not compromised.”
The power plant’s Unit 2 reactor went back online last week after an unplanned three-day outage following an electrical short Dec. 5 that caused 10 control rods to lose power and force control room operators to shut down the reactor.
This outage for Unit 3 marks the fifth time it has gone offline unscheduled this year.
Because of the number of unplanned shutdowns that have accrued for Unit 3 in 2015, it is possible the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will increase its oversight and analysis of the plant’s operations. The federal agency’s decision to increase oversight at the plant is in part determined by the NRC’s review of certain performance indicators, such as unplanned outages.
