NRC probing equipment failure at Callaway plant
Federal inspectors are probing the failure of an auxiliary water pump at AmerenUE’s Callaway nuclear plant last month.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday began an investigation into the cause of the pump failure at the 1,190-megawatt nuclear plant and will report its findings in four to six weeks, agency spokesman Victor Dricks said.
The pumps are backup equipment used to supply water to the plant’s steam generators. Water is used to produce steam for generating electricity and also is needed for cooling the reactor.
AmerenUE discovered the equipment failure during routine testing on May 25 while the plant was shut down cash advance. The pump was subsequently repaired and restarted without affecting plant operations, according to the NRC.
"We found it, we reported it, but we haven’t totally determined the root cause yet," AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said.
The pumps being looked at are different from those that led to two plant shutdowns during a three-day period in December.