Point Beach Reactor Shut Down for Maintenance

Source: PRNewswire PRESS RELEASE Publication date: Feb 21, 2000

TWO RIVERS, Wis., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the reactors at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant was shut down Sunday morning for maintenance needed to remove a small, loose part from one of the plant's steam generators. Unit 1 was taken out of service at 7:26 a.m. Sunday and is expected to be off line for about two weeks.

Plant manager Rick Mende said the loose part, weighing less than one-half pound, was detected by monitors that indicated unusual vibration in the steam generator.

"It's not a safety concern," said Mende. "We shut the unit down to remove the loose part and prevent damage to the steam generator."

A steam generator transfers heat from the reactor coolant system to make steam. The steam spins the turbine generator that makes electricity. The shutdown will last 10 to 14 days, because workers must first partially drain the steam generator before removing the loose piece of metal. Workers will also perform other maintenance work to improve the reliability of the plant when it returns to service.

Point Beach Units 1 and 2 generate about 1,022 megawatts of electricity. Wisconsin Electric has sufficient electric power supply to meet all customer needs during the maintenance outage.

A subsidiary of [Wisconsin Energy Corp.] (NYSE: WEC), Wisconsin Electric provides electricity, natural gas and/or steam service to about 2.4 million people in southeastern Wisconsin (including the Milwaukee area), the Appleton area, the Prairie du Chien area, and in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Visit the company's Web site at http://www.wisconsinelectric.com SOURCE Wisconsin Electric

Publication date: Feb 21, 2000 ) 2000, NewsReal, Inc.

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-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 21, 2000

Answers

More details....

Nuclear reactor shut down to remove small part

February 22, 2000, 7:26 AM TWO RIVERS, Wis. (AP) -- ~snip~..."We don't want to speculate on what the piece is until we know more," said Maureen Brown, the Milwaukee- based power company's director of nuclear communications. "We thought it was important to take the conservative step and take the reactor offline while we remove the part."

Brown said the reactor, which was shut off Sunday morning, could be down for as long as two weeks. The second reactor at the Point Beach continues to operate at full capacity, she said.

Even with the nuclear reactor down, Wisconsin Electric said it had enough energy to meet the needs of its 2.4 million customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

~snip~

While the reactor is off, Wisconsin Electric also plans to fix a valve leak in the safety injection system, which is leaking 20 drops of water a minute, Brown said.

The company does not consider the valve leak a significant issue, she said.

Wisconsin Electric's decision to shut off the reactor came after the company studied a similar problem recently at a nuclear power plant in Georgia, Brown said. Wisconsin Electric believes the steam generator eventually could experience damage if the loose metal part is not removed.

Detroit Free Press (Freep)

http:// www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw6909_20000222.htm

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 22, 2000.

Something's fishy about this story. Supposedly, operators shut down the Wisconsin nuke plant in order to remove a so-called "loose part" which was never found. (?) In addition, this latest article mentions nothing about the valve leak.

03/06/2000 14:38 EST

Point Beach Nuclear Plant Back in Operation TWO RIVERS, Wis., March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Unit 1 at Point Beach Nuclear Plant was returned to service this weekend after a two-week maintenance shutdown. The unit was taken off-line Feb. 20 after a monitor indicated a loose part in a steam generator. An extensive inspection of the steam generator showed no damage and no loose part was found.

Unit 1 was placed back on line at 1:40 a.m. Sunday and reached full power at 5:45 p.m. Sunday.

Plant Manager Rick Mende said the plant was shut down to prevent damage to the steam generator. "It was not a safety issue, but a loose part could have caused damage that would have been expensive to repair," he said. A steam generator is used to transfer heat from the reactor coolant system to make steam that spins the turbine generator to make electricity.

Mende said the outage also provided an opportunity to perform maintenance work that can only be done while the plant is shut down. "This will help the plant's reliability for the upcoming summer months," he said.

A subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corp. (NYSE: WEC), Wisconsin Electric provides electricity, natural gas and/or steam service to about 2.4 million people in southeastern Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee area, the Appleton area, the Prairie du Chien area, and in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Visit the company's Web site at http://www.wisconsinelectric.c om

SOURCE: Wisconsin Electric Power Co.

CO: Wisconsin Energy Corp.; Wisconsin Electric Power Co.

ST: Wisconsin

IN: OIL UTI

SU: http://www.prnewswire.com (Posted on America Online News - no url)

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 09, 2000.