Three Mile Island lowers power after leak
York Daily Record, Pa. --Dec. 10
A non-radioactive steam leak in Three Mile Island's Unit 1 Thursday afternoon has forced the plant to reduce power.
Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the
intermediate building is a vital area of the plant, between the reactor and
steam/turbine buildings. The building houses pumps, valves and pipes between the
plant's reactor and turbine systems.
Two workers entered the building and found the steam leak on an instrument
line fitting, DeSantis said.
The leak posed no danger to the public or to plant workers, he said.
Plant operators reduced power by 22 percent. Unit 1, which typically produces
890 megawatts of power, enough to power about 300,000 homes, was producing 150
megawatts Thursday afternoon.
Customers will not experience a lapse in power as a result of the steam leak,
DeSantis said.
By Thursday evening, plant crews had stopped the leak and had started to
develop a plan to permanently repair it, he said.
No workers were injured during the event, DeSantis said.
Plant officials do not know when the plant will resume full power.
"They will need to troubleshoot this and make repairs," Sheehan
said. "Our resident inspectors are following up on this."
SIREN TEST: AmerGen Energy tested all of its emergency sirens surrounding
Three Mile Island Wednesday evening.
All 96 sirens, within 10 miles of the Dauphin County nuclear plant, sounded,
said Ralph DeSantis, spokesman for AmerGen Energy. But six sirens -- four of
them in York County -- did not fully rotate -- a problem the company fixed
Thursday, he said.
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