Indian Point Unit 3 reactor shuts itself down over power failure

The Unit 3 reactor at Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York, shut itself down on Monday, owner-operator Entergy Corp. said.

The company said early reports indicate a power disturbance in a transmission line in a non-nuclear area of the plant resulted in the outage. The reactor shuts down by design during such occurrences as a safety measure.

The company did not indicate when the reactor would be returned to service and that engineers are currently inspecting the electrical-transmission system for the specific problem.

The reactor did not leak any radioactive material, and Entergy said there are currently no safety concerns for staff or the general public near the plant.

Indian Point Unit 2 remains operational. It was brought back into service on Dec. 8 after the facility suffered a power failure to its control rods. It was brought back into operation after repairs and tests were completed.

When operational, the reactors at Indian Point have a generating capacity totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts of electricity. The company said approximately 25 percent of electricity used in Westchester County and New York City is generated at the facility.