Early warning alarm shuts down at nuclear plant
Panels of alarms designed to quickly warn personnel of operational failures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mysteriously shut down at 12:30 a.m. Monday and just as mysteriously restarted at 2:05 a.m.
The system failure required Entergy, the Louisiana-based owner and operator of the Pilgrim plant, to report "an unusual event" to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
NRC experts are now trying to determine the cause of the failure. Meanwhile the plant is operating at full power, prompting an outcry from area nuclear watchdogs who say the operation should be shut down until the mystery of the alarm system failure is solved.
Mary Lampert, a Duxbury resident and director of Pilgrim Watch, said her anti-nuclear organization plans to send a statement to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today.
"Until they go over it with a fine-tooth comb and until they can say 100 percent that it's fixed, they have no business staying operational," Lampert said.
The alarms, called "annunciators," are the first warning but not the only warning of a malfunction, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. "They are there to call prompt attention to an issue, but plants also have gauges and other means for personnel to monitor, plus they have operators out in the field," he said.
Entergy spokeswoman Carol Wightman pointed out that "an unusual incident" is the lowest of four emergency classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"There is no impact on the health and safety of the public or the employees," Wightman said. "All the other control room information systems remain operable, which allow operators to safely and effectively monitor the plant."
The incident marks the third time this year the plant has been required to file an unusual event report.
The first two involved duck hunters in the water near the plant in January and an off-site power outage during the blizzard in February.
Asked whether breakdowns in the early alarm system were common, Sheehan could find only two recent examples: a 2011 breakdown at Braidwood Station in Illinois and 2007 malfunction at the Ginna plant in upstate New York.
Paul Blanch, a nuclear engineer and past whistleblower, called the annunciator failure "a serious situation."
"It's good that they came back on, but if they haven't determined why the system went out, it means it could go out again," Blanch said. "It's my strong belief they should do a controlled shutdown while they still have their annunciators."
Sheehan said the plant has adequate safeguards, and it's important for it to stay at full power. "This is peak demand season and the East Coast is going to have a heat wave," he said.
Diane Turco, a Harwich resident and co-founder of the Cape Downwinders, said the anti-nuke group will join Pilgrim Watch in calling for shutdown. "It seems like the NRC cares more about electricity than safety," Turco said.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, called Monday's incident at Pilgrim "just another indication why we have to be vigilant and ensure there are protections in place."
Peake recently proposed legislation to include the Cape and Islands in the power plant's emergency safety zone.
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