Transformer Fire Shut Down Indian Point Reactor

Written by LANNING TALIAFERRO (Patch Staff)

A transformer fire yesterday evening shut down Entergy’s No. 3 nuclear reactor at Indian Point in Cortlandt.

The fire was put out by Indian Point personnel and the sprinkler system.

Officials in surrounding communities were alerted. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino issued this statement:

“Today there was a transformer that failed at Indian Point 3, which caused a fire that was quickly extinguished. The county was immediately notified by Entergy and I personally received a briefing from senior officials. Based on the information that I received, it appears that all protocols were followed by Entergy and the unit remains stable in hot shutdown. There were no injuries and there is no danger to the public. I remain in contact with Entergy and my administration continues to monitor the situation.”

In Orange County, County Executive Steve Neuhaus ordered the activation of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Goshen at 7 p.m. response to the obligatory declaration of Notification of an Unusual Event. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo went to the plant and received a briefing about the situation at 8:05 PM.

Here is Entergy’s complete statement.

Indian Point unit 3 safely and automatically shut down as designed following a failure of one of two main electrical transformers at the plant around 6:00 p.m. The plant is currently in a safe, stable shutdown.

Following the transformer failure an automatic sprinkler system, along with trained onsite personnel, extinguished the fire.

There is no release of radiation to the environment because of this event, nor is one anticipated.

The cause of the failure is under investigation. There were no injuries reported as a result of the transformer failure.

The unaffected unit, Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant, continues to operate at 100% power. In accordance with federal regulations and emergency plant procedures, the NRC, state, county and local officials were notified. A Notice of Unusual Event is the lowest of four emergency classifications for U. S. nuclear power plants, as outlined by the NRC.

Photo credit: @GustavusHimself

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