A lightning strike in a switchyard cut off one of the external power sources at New York’s Indian Point nuclear plant for about an hour Friday, activating emergency systems at unit 3.
Shortly after 6 p.m., a 138-kilovolt line leading to the reactor lost power during a thunderstorm, according to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission event notification. Diesel generators and auxiliary feedwater pumps started automatically. Three circulating water pumps also tripped, increasing condenser backpressure and prompting operators to manually reduce reactor power to 75 percent.
The Journal News quoted plant officials as saying a lightning strike to a switchyard across the street from the plant caused the line failure, but no equipment was damaged. Unit 2 was not affected and continued to operate at full power.
Entergy Nuclear Operations runs two, roughly 1020-megawatt Westinghouse pressurized water reactors at the plant north of New York City.