Oct 1, 2002
PPL Susquehanna's Unit 2 Reactor Undergoes Automatic Shutdown
PRNewswire-FirstCall
BERWICK, Pa.
The Unit 2 reactor at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County automatically shut down at 10:10 p.m. on Monday (9/30) when a problem occurred on the non-nuclear side of the plant.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19981015/PHTH025 )
"Plant personnel responded appropriately, and plant systems worked as designed to safely shut down the reactor," said Herb Woodeshick, special assistant to the president for PPL Susquehanna. "The plant is stable, and we are reviewing the cause of the problem."
The unit's main turbine tripped and an automatic shutdown occurred as a result of a loss of main condenser vacuum. The purpose of the main condenser is to turn steam back into water. The system that allows the condenser to maintain its vacuum experienced a momentary loss of power. Plant personnel fixed the problem and restored the condenser vacuum shortly after shutdown, Woodeshick said.
"The safety of our employees and the public is of paramount importance. We are working diligently to take corrective action and restart the reactor," he said.
The reactor is expected to be back on line in the next week. Unit 1 remains at 100 percent power.
The shutdown ends Unit 2's record continuous run at 526 days. The unit's run started when it came back online after its 10th refueling and inspection outage in the spring of 2001.
The Susquehanna plant, located about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is operated by PPL Susquehanna.
PPL Susquehanna LLC is a member of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, markets energy in select U.S. states and Canada, and delivers electricity to nearly 6 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19981015/PHTH025
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 212-782-2840
SOURCE: PPL Susquehanna LLC
CONTACT: Herb Woodeshick of PPL Corporation, +1-570-759-2285, or fax,
+1-610-774-5281
Web site: http://www.pplweb.com/
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