6 Aug (NucNet): The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said yesterday that it is conducting a special inspection at the country’s twin-unit Prairie Island nuclear power plant to review the causes of a reactor trip and a subsequent trip of one of two auxiliary feedwater pumps.
The NRC said the trip at the plant in Minnesota, operated by Xcel Energy, was in the morning of 31 July 2008. The first unit shut down safely but the second unit was not affected.
NRC regional administrator James Caldwell said: “Although public health and safety were not at risk as a result of the event, it is important for us to understand what caused the trip and the problem with the auxiliary feedwater pump.
The reactor trip occurred when a component of the reactor trip system failed and provided a trip signal to the reactor. All plant systems responded as expected during the shut-down with the exception of the turbine driven auxiliary feed water pump, which provides back-up water supply to the reactor. The pump started as expected but tripped soon afterwards.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Lifetime Extension And Uprate Proposed For US Prairie Island Plant (News in Brief No. 47, 7 April 2008)
Regulators And US Indian Community To Cooperate In Environmental Review (World Nuclear Review No. 24, 27 June 2008)
