Indian Point 3 in Service After Transformer Fix

BUCHANAN, N.Y. – Control room operators at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants returned reactor Unit 3 to service Thursday morning, after shutting down the plant to reconnect an auxiliary transformer that was being repaired.

The transformer was taken out of service March 1, after engineers found elevated levels of combustible gas in the transformer’s oil. Onsite transformers have been subject to increased scrutiny after Entergy, operators of the Indian Point power plants, were fined $1.2 million by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a 10,000 gallon transformer oil spill into the Hudson River.

Director of Hudson River programming, Phillip Musegaas, said “It’s hard to discern between what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to Entergy’s statements about Indian Point,” in a statement concerning returning the transformer to service. “What’s more, whenever these transformers go down, which is quite often, the lights still remain on, dispelling yet another myth about how much we are reliant upon the electricity supplied by Indian Point,” said Musegaas.

Indian Point spokesperson Jerry Nappi said that there’s hundreds of pieces of equipment that are well-maintained and monitored, some continuously, some on a fixed periodic schedule.

“Unfortunately, just like in any industry, sometimes equipment does not operate properly so we responsibly take steps to repair it. That’s what we did in this case,” Nappi said.

 

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