New England Power Plants Show Signs Of Strain

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Power Plants Show Signs Of Strain The Hartford Courant August 15, 2001

Days after extreme heat produced unprecedented energy demand in New England, several nuclear power plants in the region have suffered unexpected outages and reductions in power production.

On Monday, the 670-megawatt Pilgrim Unit 1 reactor in Plymouth, Mass., was abruptly shut down during the testing of a reactor system.

The cause of the shutdown is being investigated.

Also Monday, the 1,158-megawatt Seabrook Unit 1 reactor in Seabrook, N.H., was operating at 60 percent of its power capacity for repairs of what was initially reported to be a small steam leak.

On Tuesday, the Seabrook reactor was operating at half its capacity to repair a digital controller on a heater drain system, according to reports by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In recent days, power has been reduced slightly at the 870-megawatt Millstone Unit 2 reactor in Waterford to reduce the temperature of water discharged by the plant.

On Friday, a station biologist discovered 50 dead tautog or blackfish, in a quarry where the reactor discharges water.

The fish had passed through a fish barrier, then evidently cooked in waters heated to more than 90 degrees by last week's high temperatures, plant officials said.

Last week's heat wave produced a record demand for electricity.

According to regional power manager ISO New England, power consumption reached a record 24,615 megawatts on Tuesday, Aug. 7; 24,634 megawatts on Wednesday; and a now official record peak of 25,158 megawatts on Thursday before cooler weather eased demand.

A megawatt is enough electricity to power about 1,000 average homes.

http://www.ctnow.com/scripts/editorial.dll?fromspage=all/home.htm&categoryid=&bfromind=582&eeid=5085160&eetype=article&render=y&ck=&userid=1&userpw=.&uh=1,0,&ver=3.0

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 15, 2001


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