Safety systems shut down New Hampshire’s Seabrook nuclear plant Thursday when water levels in a steam generator dropped during maintenance.
Just after noon, the reactor shut down automatically after one of two main steam generator feed pumps experienced low suction pressure, according to an incident report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The feed pump problem occurred as workers returned a condensate pump to service after maintenance.
All safety systems functioned as designed, including an emergency feedwater system that brought water levels back to normal. The reactor remained offline Friday, and NextEra Energy, the majority owner of the plant, did not indicate when it would come back online.
FPL Energy Seabrook operates the plant south of Portsmouth, N.H., according to the NRC. It uses a single 1,295 megawatt Westinghouse pressurized water reactor first licensed in 1990.