Beaver Valley Nuclear Station in Pennsylvania Shuts Down Due to Minor Fire

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, went offline Tuesday, November 5, 2013, due to a small cable tray explosion and fire in the Unit 1 turbine building. The station is owned by Ohio Edison Company (Akron, Ohio) and operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) (Akron).

Sources at the facility said that the event occurred around 6 p.m. Tuesday night and that safety systems were in place. The sources said that there was no threat to the community or plant personnel.

Plant officials said that the Beaver Valley fire brigade was called to the scene; however, they did not enter the plant because the situation was under control and there was not a need for them at that time.

According to the report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the minor cable tray explosion and fire occurred in the Unit 1 turbine building. It appears at this time to be electrical in nature and is under investigation by the NRC and plant officials.

There is not a definitive date as to when the unit will be returned to full capacity, but a plant source on Monday said that Unit 1 was returning to power from its current refueling. The unit is expected to ramp to only 49% capacity because of a condensate motor repair that was to take place over the next week.

Due to this development, plant officials are hoping to wrap up their investigation within the next couple of days. They expect to maintain the current schedule and return to power by the middle of next week.

Sources said that the unit's return date is pending, based on the outcome of the investigation by the NRC and plant officials, as well as any other necessary repairs.

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