NYPA plant on automatic shutdown

By Associated Press, 4/2/2000 00:03

SCRIBA, N.Y. (AP) The New York Power Authority's James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant automatically shut down Saturday evening.

According to a statement issued shortly before midnight, operators had reduced the plant's power output to allow work on the system that maintains vacuum in the plant's condenser. During the work, a valve in the system malfunctioned, causing the shutdown.

''There's no cause for alarm,'' said Patricia Chaldu, spokeswoman for the authority. Chaldu said that backup systems had been activated to ensure no power loss to customers and that the plant would likely resume electricity production later in the week.

The 25-year-old reactor, located 45 miles north of Syracuse, was inoperative for seven days following an automatic shutdown this past November, when instruments sensed an abnormally high water level in a drain tank associated with the turbine. The problem occurred because of a faulty valve control signal that was repaired during the shutdown.

The plant had also gone into automatic shutdown in August 1998 and once in September 1996.

The plant is one of two state-owned plants expected to be purchased in an all-but-finalized $967 million deal with the New Orleans-based Entergy Corp.

The sale is awaiting approval by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/093/region/NYPA_plant_on_automatic_shutdo:.shtml

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), April 02, 2000