Indian Point 3 Returns to Service

Control room operators returned Indian Point Unit 3 to service this morning, generating electricity, Entergy officials announced.

Unit 3 had shut down automatically Monday night after its main electrical generator sensed an electrical disturbance in transmission lines that connect the plant to the external power grid.

The outage sparked outrage from New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who ordered the state’s Public Service Commission to investigate.

The plant shut down safely, as designed, and operators performed as trained, company officials said.

The company said workers replaced several electrical insulators on a high-voltage transmission line this week prior to returning Unit 3 to service. Insulators protect transmission lines and related electrical equipment from the high-voltage associated with each line.

Next, engineers will examine the replaced insulators over the next few days to help determine the cause of the electrical disturbance, company officials said.

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Indian Point Energy Center, in Buchanan, N.Y., is home to two operating nuclear power plants, Unit 2 and Unit 3, which generate approximately 2,000 megawatts of electricity and supply about 25 percent of power used annually by homes, business and public facilities in New York City and Westchester County.