River Bend Nuclear Power Station Shuts Down Unit due to Stuck Valve in Condensate-Feedwater System

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The River Bend Nuclear Power Station (St. Francisville, Louisiana) was forced to shut down its River Bend 01 unit late Thursday night, personnel reported Friday morning, March 21, 2008. The cause was a stuck valve in a feedwater heater, a primary component in the condensate-feedwater system, a cyclical system that extensively heats and pressurizes condensate (water) before it is channeled to the unit's reactor. Plant personnel are hoping to have the repairs complete by sometime Monday.

The condensate-feedwater system works by having feedwater pumps suction water from both the condensate and heater drains systems. Condensate is then routed from the condenser, where the steam from the low pressure turbine is condensed to water in a vacuum chamber. These pumps raise the pressure to over 350 pounds-per-square-inch (PSI), and the condensate water typically passes through four to six stages of heater drain coolers and feedwater heaters. These stages in the water-steam cycle are designed to recover heat from steam exhausted from the various turbine stages, which consequently heats the condensate water temperature from 90 degrees Fahrenheit (F) to approximately 350F. Feedwater pumps then raise the pressure to about 1100 PSI, with the water then passing typically through one stage of a high-pressure (HP) feedwater heater. After passing through the HP feedwater heater, the water is at about 425F. Once heated to the proper operating temperature, the water is then passed through regulating (or control) valves and on to the reactor in this boiling water reactor (BWR) configuration.

The River Bend Station became commercially operational in 1986 and has one 966-megawatt (MW) BWR. A second 1,100 MW reactor is in the planning stages and could become operational as soon as 2014. The facility is owned by Entergy Gulf States, Incorporated (New Orleans, Louisiana), and operated by Entergy Nuclear Generation Company (Jackson, Mississippi).

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