A spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reported a reactor was shut down at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby. Unit One was shut down Saturday, July 21 at 12:10 p.m. According to a government document, plant officials notified the NRC one hour later of the situation.
Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC, stated the unit was taken out of service “to address a leak on a reactor coolant pump differential-pressure sensing line.”
The event text submitted by Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG), the plant’s operators, “the leak is from an instrument line which monitors reactor coolant pump differential pressure. It is for monitoring purposes only. The leak is believed to be coming from the same instrument line that was reported to be leaking on July 17, 2012. At that time power was reduced to 10 percent and a containment entry was made. At that time it was believed that the leak had been isolated and full power operations were resumed. Based on containment sump pump run times and another containment entry, it was determined that the leak apparently had not been isolated.”
“At no time was there a threat to the safety of the public or plant employees,” said CENG spokesman Kory Raftery. “We are testing the unit and once the repair is complete and has been verified, we’ll power [Unit One] back up and reconnect to the grid.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
