PPL Corp. shut down unit 2 at its Susquehanna nuclear plant Wednesday as monitoring data indicated the potential for further cracking in its turbine blades.
Damaged blades have been a recurring problem at both units of the Pennsylvania plant in recent years. While inspections during unit 1's last outage in March didn't turn up any cracked blades, PPL reported in a release that a few blades might have developed flaws since then.
"We continue to take appropriate actions based on the monitoring data we are collecting to ensure long-term safety and reliability. That's why we decided to shut down unit 2 now to inspect blades and replace any that are found to have developed cracks," PPL Chief Nuclear Officer Timothy S. Rausch said in the release.
The company tentatively plans to replace the components during a refueling outage next year with newly designed blades that have reduced crack-inducing vibration since their recent installation in unit 1.