This from Patel on the Sun Sentinel:
Florida Power & Light employees heard a "loud bang" Thursday at the utility's Turkey Point nuclear plant 24 miles south of Miami when a large valve carrying water unexpectedly closed, turning off a system that cools equipment in one of the reactors, according to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission report on the incident. Regulator have not yet determined the safety significance.
FPL employees followed their procedures, immediately opening one of two backup valves to fix the issue within 20 minutes, said FPL Spokesman Mike Waldron.
"This situation did not impact our ability to operate safely," he wrote in an email. "The noise was caused by the two-feet wide valve closing."
On Tuesday, a three-person NRC team began a special inspection of the plant because the cooling system “failure resulted in the loss of a safety system," the agency wrote in a statement.
The inspection will include reviewing maintenance and testing performed on the valve. The NRC report noted that FPL did not have to shut down the reactor in this case, as nuclear operators often do to be on the safe side when problems arise.
NRC Spokesman Joey Ledford said the system cools "important safety systems, including reactor cooling system pumps."
"It is a concern when the component cooling water system is not working," Ledford said. "We are very closely observing the repair efforts and we’re looking into this in depth to see if there's a need for regulatory action."
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The NRC report noted that FPL did not have to shut down the reactor in this case, as nuclear operators often do to be on the safe side when problems arise.
NRC Spokesman Joey Ledford said the system cools "important safety systems, including reactor cooling system pumps."
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