Fire shuts down Oyster Creek
by Jennifer Weiss
A fire late last night at Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant is under investigation, according to news reports.
Exelon Nuclear says the fire was in one of the plant’s two main transformers and damaged the transformer, but nothing else. The plant shut down automatically at around 10 p.m., according to the Philadelphia Inquirer and others, and no one was injured, the company says.
In December, one of the plant’s two main power transformers failed. It took the company about a week to replace the transformer and return the unit to service.
A spokesman for the plant said that the fire occurred in the recently replaced transformer. He could not say whether the company had a spare transformer on site or when the unit would likely return to service.
The fire was classified an unusual event, the lowest level in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s emergency classification system. Exelon says there was no threat to the public.
Oyster Creek (b. 1969 and located in Lacey Township, Ocean County) is the oldest operating nuclear reactor in the country.
The NRC is set to decide this year whether to renew its operating license. The plant can continue to operate while that process continues.
More: Fire shuts down Oyster Creek nuke plant (Philadelphia Inquirer)
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