Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations, has recently declared that comprehensive inspections completed during a planned outage at the Indian Point nuclear power plant show critical components at Unit 2 continue to perform safely and as intended, with maintenance required in one area before the plant can be restarted.
“Safety is always our first priority, and the hundreds of inspections performed over the last few weeks demonstrate these programs work as designed,” said Larry Coyle, site vice president and Entergyâs top official at Indian Point. “Safeguards and automatic detection equipment are in place to alert plant operators of impacts on safe operations.â?
Indian Point Unit 2âs âAging Management Programâ?, implemented in connection with license renewal calls for an in-depth inspection of the reactor vessel every ten years. The refuelling and maintenance outage of Unit 2 involves testing and inspection of the reactor containment area, the reactor vessel, the control rod mechanism, coolant pump motors and steam generators. In addition, inspections were performed outside the containment area, on dozens of valves, turbine rotors, condensate storage tanks and other equipment. Engineers have conducted more than 350 inspections of critical equipment, to ensure that even the slightest variation in equipment was identified, analysed, and if necessary, repaired.