A reactor at Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna nuclear plant will be shut down longer than expected after cracks were found in turbine blades.
On Thursday a PPL spokesman told the Standard Speaker newspaper that the metal fatigue’s discovery likely will keep unit 2 offline for another six weeks. Additionally, unit 1 may be shut down as additional turbine inspections are carried out at the plant.
Unit 2 had shut down April 4 for a monthlong refueling outage. Once offline, crews noticed cracks in the blades of the 35-foot-long turbine that allow steam from the reactor to drive the unit’s generator. Replacing them is expected to cost between $20 million and $30 million, the spokesman said. The turbine is 8 years old.
According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, PPL operates two General Electric Type 4 boiling water reactors with Mark II containment at Susquehanna. Brought online in the early 1980s, the plant in Luzerne County, Pa., generates 2,300 megawatts.