Anyone have info re shutdown of 3 reactors @ Nuke Power Plant

[lonestarnot]

last week? This is a first in the history of this nuclear power plant. The windstorm on Friday was horrendous but blew from the west. Gee thanks wind.

[NMDemDist2]

1. Palo Verde? what plant? did you check their website? n/t

[lonestarnot]

2. There was something quietly discussed last week. No, I

haven't checked their website. Would you expect them to tell you anything truthful? Yes Palo Verde.

[catmother]

3. i heard something that they were being repaired. my husband

worked for the electric company for a while and he said "never, ever did they have all reactors shut down". :scared:

[lonestarnot]

4. Here's a link from Tucson on the story! Sure quiet...

http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4760384


:scared:

[lonestarnot]

5. There is something definitely more than meets the eye here.

[Marie26]

6. Seems like they've had trouble before

Palo Verde problems continue

Problems continue to plague the Palo Verde nuclear power plant, where El Paso Electric usually gets half its power.

The plant near Phoenix has not been producing power since Monday evening, when its one operating nuclear reactor had to be shut down for repair of a feed-water valve. That unit was powering back up Thursday and will take "a number of days to get to full power," said Jim McDonald, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service Co., which operates the nuclear power plant. "I can't say how many days" because the process of restarting a nuclear reactor is complicated. If all goes as expected, all three Palo Verde reactor units should be back to full power by July, McDonald said.

This week's Palo Verde shutdown is not causing service problems for El Paso Electric, which is making up the gap by generating additional power from its El Paso natural-gas-fired power plants and by purchasing more power off the open market, said Steve Busser, vice president for regulatory affairs at El Paso Electric.

Enough power is available through the open market to fill any power gaps even if Palo Verde is offline in the summer, when electric demand is high, Busser said. But El Paso Electric has to pay more for electricity when it loses Palo Verde power because nuclear power is much cheaper than power from other sources. Palo Verde has operated consistently well over much of the past decade, but its reactors have been shut down 19 times since February 2004 for various problems.

http://www.borderlandnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060414/BUSINESS/604140341/1003

Palo Verde water spills investigated, Feds probe tritium levels at nuclear plants

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Prompted by a string of accidental radioactive discharges, federal monitors said Wednesday that they have formed a task force to investigate the spills at several power plants across the country, including one at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Wintersburg.

"It does appear that it's bang, bang, bang, one right after the other," Steve Klementowicz, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission senior health physicist, said of discharges of radioactive tritium-laced water at nuclear plants in Arizona, Illinois and New York.

Tritium, a byproduct of nuclear power generation, is a relatively weak source of radiation. But long-term exposure can increase the risks of cancer, miscarriages and birth defects. It can be ingested or absorbed in human tissue.

NRC officials said at a hearing here that the task force of experts will evaluate the health effects of what has happened at at least five plants since December and possibly earlier incidents. But they emphasized that the latest reports from all the sites, including Palo Verde, do not indicate any immediate public hazards.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0323nuke-taskforce0323.html

[lonestarnot]

7. Yes, but never enough trouble to shut down all 3 @ once.

[Rosco T.]

9. Not necessarly (from the story linked above)..

Unit 3 was was shut down last week (scheduled) for refueling..
Unit 1 was shut down in March to repair a pipeline..

So only one was operating at the time... so it wasn't a 'triple shutdown' as in 'all at once'.

[lonestarnot]

10. did I misread something?

[Rosco T.]

11. dunno, but here's what it said about Unit 1 & 3

Palo Verde's Unit 3 shut down last week as part of its regularly scheduled refueling. It is expected to return to service early next month.

Unit 1 was shut down in late March to allow crews to repair a vibrating pipe that has hampered the reactor's electricity output all year. APS expects the repairs will be finished in June.

---

I don't make the news, just report it..

[lonestarnot]

12. Headline

"All three reactors at the nation's largest nuclear plant were out of service Tuesday..."

[Rosco T.]

13. I didn't say that all three were not shut down....

but that all three were not SHUT DOWN AT ONCE...

one was already scheduled to be offline
one had been offline since March

so this wasn't a 'triple emergency'....

[lonestarnot]

14. Pretty much a problem when they are all off at the same time.

[lonestarnot]

8. kick

[lonestarnot]

15. Kick again as I am still looking for educated opinions before I have to

call my repuke x brother-in-law and listen to his crap.