Indian Point Shutting Down Unit 2 For Generator Issue

CORTLANDT, NY — Control room operators plan to shut down Indian Point nuclear facility's Unit 2 on Tuesday afternoon to troubleshoot an issue with the main generator’s excitation system, located on the non-nuclear side of the plant.

Operators plan to take the step following indication that the excitation system may not be functioning as designed, said spokesman Jerry Nappi. The generator’s excitation system was the initiating cause of the two other recent shutdowns at Unit 2, which were automatic shutdowns, as opposed to today’s planned operator-controlled shutdown.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been made aware of the issue, Nappi said.

Unit 2 had its final refueling outage last spring. It is scheduled for permanent shutdown by April 30, 2020.

Unit 3, which is undergoing its final refueling outage now, will shut down by April 30, 2021.

The recent set of shutdowns for the generator excitation issue is the first time both nuclear reactors have been shut down at the same time in more than a decade.