Indian Point 3 Returns to Service

Indian Point’s Unit 3 nuclear power plant returned to service yesterday afternoon.

On July 8, control room operators shut down the unit after observing fluctuating water levels inside a steam generator.

Indian Point officials said the cause of the fluctuating water levels was that one of the unit’s three condensate pumps, which is part of the system that feeds water into the plant’s steam generators, automatically shut down while the unit was operating at full power, causing water levels inside the steam generator to fluctuate.

The three condensate pumps are located on the non-nuclear side of the plant.

The unit is operating safely on two condensate pumps while engineers and mechanics repair the third, officials said.