http://www.news-observer.com/daily/1999/12/15/biz07.html

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Wednesday, December 15, 1999 Shearon Harris reactor shut down

An electrical problem caused the plant's third unplanned shutdown this year.

By KARIN SCHILL, Staff Writer

NEW HILL -- Workers at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant halted reactor operations early Tuesday after an electrical problem caused a pump failure. The unplanned shutdown was the third this year at the power station. Repairs got under way immediately, and the reactor was expected to be back on line early today, said Jeanne Bonds, a spokeswoman for the plant in southwestern Wake County. "This isn't anything associated with the reactor. The problem was with the steam generation in the turbine," she said. "It was a ground-fault problem in the electrical system. It's an electrical part that could have been at any plant, not just a nuclear plant." In January, two technicians accidentally cut the power to two of the reactor's three coolant pumps, causing the reactor to automatically shut down. Two months later, the plant was down again after the water in a steam generator unexpectedly started to rise and automatic safety systems again killed the nuclear chain reaction inside the reactor. That snag came within days of a steam generator snag that forced Shearon Harris to reduce power. Three unplanned outages and a near-outage are unusual for a plant that has had a record of operating well. Each time a reactor trips, CP&L stands to lose revenue, depending on electricity demand at the time. "Our goal is to have no reactor trips, obviously, but this is also a reflection of the fact that the plant's safety systems work as they're supposed to," CP&L spokesman Mike Hughes said. The Shearon Harris plant, which is owned by CP&L and the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency, has produced electricity since 1987.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 15, 1999

Answers

Work it out thoroughly now, please, squash all the bugs.

-- better now (than@2.weeks), December 15, 1999.

That was number THREE! A previous unscheduled shutdown was caused by a piece of paper left accidentially between relay contacts put there to perform a test. Homer Simpson at work in my neighborhood! Sorry, no link, but it was reported in the News & Observer at the time, and is therefore public record, but they didn't mention Homer by name.

-- W (me@home.now), December 16, 1999.

Haven't they heard about redundent systems and backups...not to mention contingency plans?

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 16, 1999.

Shearon Harris, Thursday: N&Observer (Thurs, Dec 16, 1999):

The Shearon Harris nuclear plant is expected to be operating at full capacity by midday today after an electrical problem forced an unplanned outage early Tuesday. [Is this why we had a 5-minute outage at 2.40PM Thursday?]

...The NRC will investigate the incident...

...But Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the NRC in Atlanta, said the recent strings of shutdowns at Shearon Harris were probably just poor luck [THESE GUYS are the REGULATORS! Poor luck? How soon they forget that little piece of paper in the relay contacts!]

"It's just like a car," he said. "You can do everything right in terms of how you drive and maintain the car, but you may still have a flat tire or a pump can go out. At least until we go back and really look at it in detail it doesn't look like any of these shutdowns were related in any way."

Comforting words from the NRC! When their next tire blows, I might hear it, only 8 miles away, and I am downwind. Chucks...

-- W (me@home.now), December 16, 1999.