Massachusetts’ Pilgrim nuclear plant powered back up over the weekend after a leaking valve in its pressure relief system prompted a shutdown last week.
Early on Dec. 26 operators manually shut down the reactor from full power after suspected leakage across the first stage of a safety release valve (SRV), according to an event notification report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The SRV is one of four in the pressure relief system of the 685 megawatt General Electric boiling water reactor that control the release of steam into the torus of its Mark I containment.
With the valve inoperable, the plant was required to shut down and did so without incident. A spokesman for plant operator Entergy told Bloomberg that operators restarted the reactor Friday afternoon following repairs.