Posted on 03/09/2016 7:57:57 PM PST by ransomnote
According to a GreenvilleOnline news report, a transformer exploded and burned at Oconee Nuclear Station. The article can't be linked but should you choose to search on it, includes cell phone footage. The fire burned a power line that connected the transformer to a switch yard (sends power to the grid). This triggered an alert classified as the "second least serious" level of emergency for a nuke plant. The level of severity was due to its capacity to affect plant operations. They shut down Unit 1 because without the damaged transformer, other transformers would not have been able to carry the electrical load. (output)
The transformer that exploded and burned is located 25 to 30 feet away from the Unit 1 turbine building and about 100 yards from a reactor building (a total of 3 reactors at the site). 40 firefighters using foam retardant worked about 30 minutes to put the fire out.
Doesn't this excerpt sound like some planning could help (move sensitive units farther apart)
The description of the transformer sounds like one of the main transformers since it’s located so close to the turbine hall (non-nuclear) portion of the plant. The transformers are filled with a flammable coolant. The transformers sit on a foundation that is inside of a concrete pit. The purpose of the pit is to contain the cooling fluid if a leak develops in the transformer.
It’s not unusual for the coolant to catch fire if it leaks out since it may be associated with a transformer that overheats.
The burning oil explains why there was black smoke. The transformers are connected to the generator by what most people would think was large aluminum pipe. For design reasons you do not want the transformers a long way from the turbine hall.
No, those transformers at ALL power stations are set by very, very strict electric volt-distance requirements between the heavy cables. All such transformers are built the same way - at nukes as at gas turbines or coal or the old oil-fired plants. You just don’t hear about a non-nuke transformer problem.
Terrorists DID shoot up a nuke transformer a few months ago. That attack (by multiple armed men, all well coordinated was promptly shut up in the news - but no one has been found responsible. No group has been publicized as claiming responsibility either! To me, it sounds like a test assault. Oboma can’t allow more terrorist attacks in the US, can he?)
One of the most serious things that can happen at a nuclear power plant is to lose the grid. The reactors put out energy at a tremendous rate, often over a hundred million horsepower. That energy supply can’t be turned off instantly. If the grid is lost, the energy has to go somewhere else, almost instantly. This makes the shut down process critical.
Thank you for the info. Which NPP was attacked? I never heard about it.
I see there’s been another fire at a NPP on March 9th (yesterday). This time it was in the turbine room of the WATTS BAR nuclear power plant (Tennessee).
“Watts Bar Unit 2 declared an Unusual Event at 0342 EST based on a fire greater than 15 minutes in the turbine building - 2B Hotwell pump motor. The fire was extinguished by 0401 EST, at the time of notification. Unit 2 is currently shutdown in Mode 5 making preparations for startup. No offsite assistance was requested. All personnel are accounted for and there are no personnel injuries reported.”
I found the other fire at an npp you mentioned:
“U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Feb 8, 2016 (emphasis added): Facility: BRUNSWICK [Nuclear Plant in N.C.]… Emergency Class: ALERT… EMERGENCY DECLARED… RPS [Reactor Protection System] ACTUATION – CRITICAL… MANUAL SCRAM AND ALERT DECLARATION DUE TO ELECTRICAL FAULT RESULTING IN FIRE/EXPLOSION…”
Wonder if they are getting good at it?
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