Duke Energy issued an emergency declaration at its Brunswick nuclear plant as a precaution Tuesday after the Halon system activated in its control room simulator.
Per Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules, the plant declared an unusual event because the fire-suppression system released a gas that could potentially affect access to the plant's technical support center and emergency operations facility. According to a report filed with the NRC, the discharge took place at 4:32 a.m. The plant dispatched its fire brigade to ensure a fire was not present in the simulator, and communications from Duke later that day did not suggest further problems at the plant. At the time of the notice, both of its reactors continued to operate at full power.
Brunswick generates 1,870 megawatts using two General Electric Type 4 boiling water reactors south of Wilmington, N.C., that entered service in the mid-1970s.