Consumers in Kansas caught a break Thursday, as federal authorities granted Wolf Creek nuclear plant an extension of eight hours to test a repaired backup generator, which caught fire Monday.
The facility was allowed a standard 72 hours to complete repairs, which gave the plant until Thursday at 1:30 p.m. to have the fix completed. While the generator was up and running Wednesday afternoon, however, it could not be certified until it had run for 24 hours. That meant testing would not be done until 4 p.m. Thursday, The Wichita Eagle reported.
After the 24-hour test run, final checks and paperwork were also required, said Wolf Creek Operating Corp. spokesman Terry Young.
The cost of a shutdown, which would have been passed on to consumers, would run to $280,000 per day, said Westar Energy, which owns 47 percent of Wolf Creek.
Kansas City Power & Light also owns 47 percent, while Kansas Electric Power Cooperative owns 6 percent.
KEPCo said a shutdown cost them $35,000 per day. KCP&L did not release an estimate, the newspaper said.
It was the second time in two weeks that area consumers caught a break. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently agreed to allow the plant to continue running despite failure of a coolant leak sensor under the reactor core.
Radiation in that area is too high for workers to replace the sensor while the plant is running. The NRC is allowing Wolf Creek to wait until the next scheduled refueling shutdown in late February to replace the sensor, as other sensors are in place that can detect coolant leaks.