Flood-zone nuclear reactors maintain output as rivers crest and fall

Washington (Platts)--9Sep2011/400 pm EDT/2000 GMT

Nuclear power plants in the flood zone in Pennsylvania have maintained normal power generation as water levels in adjacent rivers peaked, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said Friday.

Exelon Nuclear's Three Mile Island-1, by the Susquehanna River 10 miles southeast of Harrisburg, was still in abnormal operating procedure, meaning it was taking precautions for river flooding Friday morning, Sheehan said in an email. "The predicted peak crest for the Susquehanna River at the site today is 294.5 feet. River levels appear to be decreasing," he said.

Sheehan said the TMI plant would have to declare an unusual event, the lowest of NRC's four emergency levels, at 300 feet and shut down at 302 feet. The unit was at full capacity Friday, according to NRC's daily reactor status update. Sheehan said NRC resident inspectors at TMI "are checking to ensure there are no effects on safe operation of the plant."

At Exelon Nuclear's Peach Bottom-2 and -3 reactors, about 18 miles south of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, water levels at the Conowingo Pond peaked at 109.8 feet and have fallen back to 107.8 feet, Sheehan said. The shutdown level for the units is 111 feet.

Peach Bottom-2 was at full power and Peach Bottom-3, which has been gradually reducing its output for several days ahead of a refueling outage, was at 87%, according to NRC.

Exelon spokeswoman April Schillp said Friday that operations at both TMI and Peach Bottom are not affected by flooding and "it doesn't appear that they will be." She added that the company is "not losing our vigilance and is still monitoring" the flooding.

PPL's Susquehanna plant has experienced "no operational challenges," company spokesman Joseph Scopelliti said Friday afternoon. The twin-unit plant in Salem Township, about 70 miles northeast of Harrisburg, sits about 150 feet above the Susquehanna River, where he said the water level crested Friday morning and has begun retreating.

--Yanmei Xie, yanmei_xie@platts.com

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