Frigid conditions shutsdown Fermi 2

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

This article was published by UPI. Anytime a reactor shuts down under 
abnormal circumstances, it places the reactor in a transient mode. 
That is the time there "can" be reactor problems. This is analogous 
to an airline landing and taking off. That is when a majority of 
accidents occur. 
-----------------

NEWPORT, Mich., Jan. 21  -- Detroit Edison says extreme cold may
  have caused an electrical breaker to malfunction, forcing the 
shutdown of the utility's nuclear power plant south of Detroit. 
 The Fermi 2 plant, which hasn't operated at full speed since a 
Christmas Day 1993 accident, will be idle for at least four more weeks
while a generator is repaired. 
 The plant's nuclear reactor was never in danger. But utility  
spokeswoman Mary Kay Bean says the reactor was shut down Friday when
the three-phase breaker started tranferring electricity into, instead
of out of, the generator. 
 The incident occurred as technicians were trying to bring the plant 
up to full speed following installation of three new turbines and a
three-month refueling project. 
 Bean says Tuesday grease in the breaker may have stiffened in the 
sub-zero cold, prompting it to fail. She says the sudden electrical
infusion from the utility's power grid put the generator in reverse,
so it worked like a motor. 
 An on-site inspector from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is 
monitoring the repairs. 
 Three years ago the plant was shut down when a turbine failed. The 
lengthy repairs cost the utility millions of dollars, and forced the
controversial discharge of millions of gallons of slightly radioactive
water into Lake Erie. 
 ---  

Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Office: (800) 548-5100 Ext. 2306 
Fax: (714) 668-3149

E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com    

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