A water leak in the containment structure at Unit 1 at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa., was described as small, but still triggered steps to disconnect the unit from the regional grid on Saturday, the plant's operators said.
Operators said in a release that the the water leak was “well within the plant's limits for continued safe operations.” Nonetheless, the massive concrete containment structure is not accessible when the reactor is running, so it was shut down so workers could quickly find the source of the leak and complete repairs as soon as possible.
Operators said they shut down for repairs to enhance the plant's reliability before winter sets in and demand for electricity increases.
PPL Susquehanna LLC is one of PPL Corporation's power generating affiliates. The parent company, with $12 billion in revenues in 2013, operates a family of companies that delivers electricity and natural gas to about 10 million customers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The plant located seven miles north of Berwick and 70 miles northeast of Harrisburg, Pa., is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc.
In September 2013, radioactive water discovered inside a room in the plant's Unit 2 reactor building led to an "unusual event" declaration, the lowest tier of four event classifications used by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to describe incidents at nuclear power facilities.
That radioactive water leak was discovered during a shut down for an inspection of turbine blades after a sensor signaled a problem with the turbine blades. Both the turbine blades and the water leak in that incident were quickly addressed.