Palisades Nuclear Unit in Michigan Remains Offline for Repairs

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Palisades Nuclear Station has delayed the restart of its 788-megawatt unit due to extended repairs. The delay is expected to last a couple of weeks. The station is located in Covert, Michigan, and is owned by Entergy Nuclear Generation, a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (Jackson, Mississippi).

The unit was shut down a little less than two weeks ago, after officials investigated an inoperable issue and discovered water leakage from a safety injection fuel tank. Plant sources said that the same problem occurred last year in August. Officials said that it is still unclear what was overlooked during the investigation at that time, but the unit will not return online until all necessary repairs have completed.

The safety injection fuel systems (SIFS) provide borated water to cool the reactor core in the event of an accidental depressurization of the reactor coolant system (RCS). So it is necessary that enough water is maintained in the core in the event of a reactor shutdown. Plant officials continue to investigate the issue, but repairs are under way.

Officials said that at this point, they expect to return the unit online on June 2. However, the return online will depend on whether any other issues are encountered before the return date.

Palisades has one generating unit. When at full load, the generating capacity is 778 megawatts.

Entergy operates and owns nuclear power plants in numerous states and has a management contract with Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska.

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