Entergy: No Safety Threat During Unit 3 Shutdown at Indian Point

Buchanan — Indian Point’s unit 3 nuclear power plant automatically shut down last evening at about 9:15 p.m. as a result of lowering water level inside one of the plant’s four steam generators. Water levels lowered inside the steam generator following a failure of a controller device that regulates the flow of water into the steam generator. 

Steam generators heat water to make steam that powers turbines to make electricity. 

There was no release of radioactivity and no threat to the safety of workers or the public. 

Unit 3 had been online generating electricity for 159 continuous days prior to the shutdown. 

Unit 2 is currently operating at full power and has been online for 188 continuous days. 

Indian Point Energy Center, in Buchanan, N.Y., is home to two operating nuclear power plants, unit 2 and unit 3, which generate approximately 2000 megawatts of electricity for homes, business and public facilities in New York City and Westchester County.