The Quad-City Times reported this afternoon:
Three hours after a possible fire put the Cordova nuclear plant on alert, station officials were evaluating whether to terminate the emergency status.
Workers at Exelon Nuclear’s Quad-Cities Generating Station noticed smoke in a turbine building in Unit 2 at 1:40 p.m. Plant spokesman Bill Stoermer said on-site firefighters handled the possible electrical short “within seconds.”
The incident also prompted a press release from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which said in par:
The operators declared an Alert for Unit 2 due to smoke in the turbine building with indications of damage to safety related electrical equipment.
The press release also outlined the NRC’s response to the situation:
The two reactors at Quad Cities are among the oldest commercial units in the United States, having come on line in December,1972. Both are General Electric boiling water reactors, the same model that melted down at Fukushima.
According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Exelon has threatened to close three Illinois nuclear power plants unless the company receives tax subsidies. Quad Cities is among the plants Exelon says it will close.
Here’s a link to the Quad-City Times coverage: http://qctimes.com/news/local/exelon-nuclear-plant-in-cordova-reports-electrical-issue/article_e71fd842-85c7-5da6-a248-7c4b1f98ac29.html
And here’s one for Crain’s Chicago Business: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140301/ISSUE01/303019987/exelon-warns-state-it-may-close-3-nukes#
