Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Malfunction Shuts Down NC Nuclear Plant

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:51 PM

By The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

Aug. 12--The Shearon Harris nuclear power plant in southern Wake County had to shut down Monday after a condenser seal began to leak.


The plant will remain shut down for the next few days until the problem can be fixed, said Rick Kimble, a spokesman for Progress Energy, which runs the plant.


The faulty seal is like a rubber gasket on the condenser, which turns the steam that powers the turbine back into liquid, Kimble said. He said the leak was not on the nuclear side of the plant.


Plant officials manually shut the plant down after indicators showed the seal was broken, Kimble said. He said the company wanted to fix the seal to ensure no other equipment would be damaged.


Energy customers won't notice the outage, Kimble said, because the company is able to draw power from other sources.


http://www.newsobserver.com

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