LOS ANGELES - PSEG Nuclear said the 1,049-megawatt Hope Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey was manually taken off-line Tuesday afternoon due to unidentified leakage.
PSEG Nuclear, a unit of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said an "unusual event" was declared when unidentified leakage inside the plant's drywell exceeded 10 gallons a minute.
The company said the cause is under investigation and there was no increase in the release of radiation from the plant.
"The unit will not be returned to service until the cause is fully understood and the appropriate actions taken," PSEG Nuclear said in a statement.
A so-called unusual event is the lowest of four classifications used to identify incidents at nuclear plants. Federal and state agencies were notified.
The Hope Creek station is located in Hancocks Bridge in Salem County, about 40 miles south of Philadelphia.
Exelon Nuclear, a unit of Chicago-based energy company Exelon Corp.'s Exelon Generation Co. LLC subsidiary, operates the station for PSEG under an agreement effective earlier this year.
One MW powers about 800 homes, according to the North American average.
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