N-plant reactor shut off over leak (Berwick, PA)

So far it seems it is under control and not any threat of a meltdown.

Press Enterprise

Operators safely contain water in ‘unusual event,’ officials report

SALEM TWP. (AP) — Nuclear power plant operators here said Sunday they found a water leak in one of its units. PPL’s Susquehanna Steam Electric...

Front page of our local paper this morning, just got home from work and haven't seen it posted on ATS yet.
I may go buy a paper and quote it for those of you who cannot read the PE link, but I have found other sources using google.

The Morning Call

PPL Corp. began shutting down a generating unit at its Susquehanna nuclear power plant early Saturday after an indication of a problem in a turbine.

Vibration monitoring equipment installed on the Unit 2 steam turbine indicated that two turbine blades may have developed small cracks, PPL said.

PRNewswire

BERWICK, Pa., Sept. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Operators at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County near Berwick, Pa., briefly declared an "unusual event" Sunday (9/15) as a result of water leaking inside a room in the plant's Unit 2 reactor building. The unit was shut down at the time of the declaration.
An unusual event is the lowest of the four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants. The event had no effect on public safety and required no public action.
The plant declared the unusual event at 11:38 a.m. after operators received indications of the water leak. They responded quickly to stop the leak, which was contained in one room. The plant is designed to contain water leaks to the room where they occur.
The unusual event declaration was ended at 3:52 p.m.
Unit 2 was shut down early Saturday (9/14) for an inspection of the unit's turbine blades. It remains safely shut down.
"We have traced the cause of the water leak to a valve on one of the plant's multiple cooling systems. Other cooling systems were operational throughout the event. In keeping with our philosophy of operating the plant safely and conservatively, we will conduct a full investigation of this incident and make any necessary changes to be sure it does not recur," said Timothy S. Rausch, senior vice president and Chief Nuclear Officer for PPL Susquehanna.
In accordance with plant procedures, local and state emergency management agencies were notified of the situation.
Unit 1 at the plant continues to run safely at full power.
The Susquehanna plant, located in Luzerne County about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is operated by PPL Susquehanna. More information is available at www.pplsusquehanna.com.
PPL Susquehanna LLC is one of PPL Corporation's generating affiliates. PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), with 2012 revenues of more than $12 billion, is one of the largest companies in the U.S. utility sector. The PPL family of companies delivers electricity and natural gas to about 10 million customers in the United States and the United Kingdom, owns more than 18,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States and sells energy in key U.S. markets. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.
SOURCE PPL Susquehanna


RELATED LINKS
www.pplsusquehanna.com...

This is the exact plant in this episode of "World's Toughest Fixes", possibly the same turbine. (Plant has 2 reactors/turbines) You can find this video in full, this is just a 2min preview, take the 2min and watch it. It will give you an overview of the plant, and you can see how the turbine is setup.

reply to post by SixX18

So far it all sounds like best case scenario.

Potential problem detected, failsafe protocol successfully activated, transparent media disclosure. Microfractures in the turbine blades are inevitable, that's why they install dedicated sensors for 'off-balance' vibrations.

Should be okey dokey, only weird thing is the 'water leak'. In which system? In the closed circulant loop or the heat exchange circuit? Also, while I love to hear "investigation will be pursued" we rarely have access to the complete diagnosis.

Maybe get a geiger counter just for the future so you don't have to rely on external news. Handy to have anyway and has non-emergency applications aplenty.

reply to post by greencmp


I don't think a geiger counter would work unless I were in the containment building. It is a costly, but not serious problem. My father used to work there, and an ex's father as well. Just throwing it out there for ATS to see being that it is a nuke plant, about 30min up river from my home.

As far as the leak, it appears it was from a valve. The system shut down when it detected the vibrations from the turbine safely. I'm unsure how they knew of the damage. Would the vibrating indicate this, or my father said they have cameras in, or can get cameras in the casing. From that tv series that did an episode there, it doesn't seem like you can get into it without doing what they filmed, removing it very carefully.

Guess it's time to get a new turbine!

SixX18
reply to post by greencmp

 

I don't think a geiger counter would work unless I were in the containment building. It is a costly, but not serious problem. My father used to work there, and an ex's father as well. Just throwing it out there for ATS to see being that it is a nuke plant, about 30min up river from my home.

As far as the leak, it appears it was from a valve. The system shut down when it detected the vibrations from the turbine safely. I'm unsure how they knew of the damage. Would the vibrating indicate this, or my father said they have cameras in, or can get cameras in the casing. From that tv series that did an episode there, it doesn't seem like you can get into it without doing what they filmed, removing it very carefully.

Guess it's time to get a new turbine!

Well, the geiger counter is just to have, like a thermometer. If you think of it, wander around your house with it in cases like this just to put your mind at ease. Also, handy to check your basement for radon (completely unrelated to the plant). If you buy any products on ebay from Japan, that sort of thing.

It's a steam turbine in the non-direct contact heat-exchanged circulatory system so it does have to be shut off.